† Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Sobor, Vancouver

FRIDAY IS REMEMBRANCE DAY IN CANADA.
IS THERE MORE OF A MESSAGE TO THIS DAY THAN JUST UN SOUVENIR DES CHOSES PASSÉES?
OR SHOULD IT NOT RATHER MEAN A GREAT DEAL MORE THAN THAT TO US?

I rather think we should stand when any soldier or sailor who has served in a battlefront area enters the room. I recall that when the Victoria Cross was created, the original design said “For Courage.” Queen Victoria disapproved. She said “all men who go to war have courage. The exceptional ones are those who display true valour.” So the Victoria Cross says “For Valour.”
At least in democratic nations, we owe our service men a huge debt. Our freedoms are so often written in their blood.
This is why I feel so strongly about social justice, and why the Canadian Charter is a sacred document: The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is clearly written in the blood, suffering and courage of countless generations who struggled and sacrificed to bring us from every form of bondage and repression into the blessings of civil rights, social justice and the fullness of our human dignity.
Perhaps, too, that is why I am willing to endure the hatred and malice of those who despise social justice and the recognition of the full human dignity of ALL the citizens of democratic states, without exception.
In my view, those who would seek to deny me the right to speak on behalf of those matters have betrayed the very foundations of our British-based democracies, betrayers of the Canadian Charter, betrayers of the American Constitution and the bases of the American Republic. To me, their hate and malice is a badge of honour.