In Flanders Fields

Being Veterans/Remembrance Day and all, I thought this reflection was rather appropriate.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae was a Canadian born physician, professor, author, poet, and soldier. When World War I broke out, McCrae was appointed a field surgeon in the 1st Field Artillery Brigade and head of the field hospital during the Second Battle Of Ypres. Death was a matter of sort during these days of intense fighting. Yet one death in particular stung deeper. Lt. Alexis Helmer had been a student and friend of McCrae prior to the war, and on May 2, 1915 he was killed in battle. In the absence of a chaplain, McCrae presided over the funeral for his fallen friend.
Shortly afterword he wrote In Flanders Fields:

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below...

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields...

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields...

The poem has the obvious call to continue the ongoing struggle of one country against another and, in fact, this poem was used as a rally cry to bring the USA into WWI. But I think, and I like to think that McCrae thought as well, that war is not simply a reason for humanity to fight. That his war, and all wars to follow, were fought for the minds and hearts of both the allies and the enemies. What they were fighting against wasn't just the figures across "no man's land", they fought for an ideal. They fought to quail the injustices that the powerful perpetrated on the weak. Hatred and prejudice would not be allowed to flourish. These are the messages that I believe were in the hearts of those on the front lines.

As I think about our world today, the battle has been brought to our doorstep. We fight that same fight everyday in our homes with our families, on the job, wherever we might be. The question remains: Will we allow hate, prejudice and injustice to reign? It's a battle that is right in front of us, but unlike real combat, we must choose whether we will fight.