CHRISTMAS CAROL SUNG AT WAR MEMORIAL

People of St. John’s Church, Rockwood gathered around the town’s War Memorial on Sunday, November 7 and sang ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’. An array of wreaths provided an appropriate symbolic background. The wreaths were laid at the area Remembrance Day ceremony held on Saturday.

It is part of a Canada wide happening in the Anglican Church of Canada, where all parishes are asked to videotape the singing of ‘Silent Night’, which will be made into a documentary, to be shared online.

On Christmas Eve 1914, during the First World War, soldiers on both sides of the conflict called a truce, laid down their weapons and met in ‘no man’s land’. They exchanged greetings and gifts and sang the one Christmas carol known by all – ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’.

The organ in St. Nicholas Church in the Austrian Alps was silent in 1818; some say mice had chewed through the bellows, so the prospect of music at the Christmas worship was indeed bleak. Joseph Mohr, the assistant priest, accepted the challenge and wrote the lyrics to ‘Silent Night’. He asked his friend, Franz Gruber, to set his words to music. Later at the Christmas Midnight Mass, the people sang ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’, accompanied by a guitar, for the first time.

It has been translated into more than 140 languages.

People participating in singing ‘Silent Night, Holy Night’ in Rockwood donated a ‘toonie’ to support the work of the Military Chaplains in the Canadian Forces.

To view our SILENT NIGHT video, and the many others from across Canada, go to http://www.anglican.ca/ and follow the link.

I REMEMBER HER ADVICE .. NOT HER

Ann Sibbit lived on this earth for 102 years.

She died in 1994.

I do not remember ever meeting this woman, who traversed geography and time for more than a century, yet I referred to her in my sermon on October 30, 1994

So she left many footprints for others to see and follow.

Her grand-daughter listed Ann's advice to equip people in 'loving your neighbour as yourself'.

Here is Ann's list ...

A. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.

B. Start each day with a smile.

C. Believe in yourself and be strong.

D. Don't look for the flaws in others as you go through life, and even if you find them, it is always wise to be somewhat blind and look for the virtues behind the flaws.

E. Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others cannot keep it from themselves.

With these principles to guide her life, I think Ann gathered a massive amount of moss as she rolled through more than ten decades.

A philosphy of applied wisdom surpasses the importance of recalling physical characteristics.

LET'S REMEMBER - LEST WE FORGET

Three Boy Scouts walked tall across the green expanse, leading from the sidewalk to the cenotaph. They struggled a little... it's awkward for six short arms to grasp a wreath and carry it in sync without tripping.

But they did. They placed their symbol of remembrance, next to others brought by soldiers, politicians, seniors, community leaders, etc.

They stood in silence, as if they recognized a name carved into the granite monument, erected nearly a century before they were born.

They moved slightly left in unison, removed poppies from their lapels and pinned them on a makeshift cushion to remember unknown soldiers.

Pleased that they had accomplished their orders, they retreated to the safety of the Scouting pack.

A different uniform approached the podium. A medal adorned his chest as he stood at attention and told the waiting minds what it was like to be a veteran of Afghanistan. Veterans are supposed to be much older, not young like this Corporal. His age, no more than double the ages of the Boy Scouts, yet his countenance portrayed a face that had experienced and witnessed more of the horrors of war than some people three times his age.

His voice quavered as he recounted how he and others had 'caught the torch' described by John McCrae in his poem 'In Flanders Fields'. McCrae had challenged future generations of soldiers to 'take up our quarrel with the foe; to you from failing hands we throw the torch; be yours to hold it high'.

We caught the torch and held it high, he pledged.

But at a high price, I thought.

He told about one friend who died in battle, and another who died because he could not cope with what the battle had done to him.

Yet, he declared, 'I am proud to be a Canadian, and I do remember them'.

He urged the nearly 500 listening ears to remember all soldiers, living and dead.

Across the nation, similar scenes are played out in cities and villages, on national stages and lonely outposts, in outdoor venues and hospital wards as Canadians commemorate those who died in service to their country for the causes of 'liberty, justice and peace'.

The paths of the young corporal and the Boy Scouts may never cross again, but they may forever remember this meeting and why they interfaced on a cold November morning in front of a granite monument, surrounded by hundreds of people who gathered together to remember those who sacrificed their lives for them.

Let's hope they remember, lest we all forget.