Remembrance Day 2010...

We didn't get to the Remembrance Day ceremony today.  Slept in and went for brunch with daughter.  We sat and chatted away, catching up on life and enjoying our time together.  When it was 11 a.m. the last post sounded over the speaker system in the restaurant.  Not many people even noticed it was being played.  People laughed, talked, drank coffee, ate toast and eggs, disciplined their children and payed their bills all the while.  Tears rolled down my cheeks to see the dichotomy that presented itself.  It was as if two worlds were colliding and yet they were totally oblivious of the others reality.  The Last Post, eerily played out, reminding us of sacrifice, chaos,death and ultimately, freedom and life....while everyone in the restaurant acted out life in a normal routine...almost as if life were being taken for granted. 

It made me think long and hard....about what sacrifice really means....putting the needs of others above my own.  Something I continually fail at, I must say.

So, I watched the many documentaries on TV as the afternoon wore on, about war...the results, the effects, the horrors of such an act.

Yes, it was a day to contemplate life, the fullness of it lived out right here in Canada...in Prince Albert.  I am a blessed and fortunate person.

In between times, I decorated the outside deck with garland and lights and put up a few decorations in the apartment.  I figured it being Remembrance Day and everything, it deserved to be celebrated in a most appropriate way....Christmas....the celebration of a life coming into the world...a life that would change the world for the good....a life that would be an example of how to show grace and not hate, of how to sacrifice a life for others.  Yes, to me, this day of remembrance and Christmas, intermingle in huge ways and the words "freedom" and "life" and "sacrifice" all play a significant role in both.

Some pictures of what peace and joy look like to me....

Blessings on your night....