"Happy and young and gallant,
They saw their first-born go,
But not the strong limbs broken
And the beautiful men brought low."
___ Ewart Alan Mackintosh,
"In Memoriam, Private D. Sutherland"
Within the last five generations, there has probably not been a family living that did not have some remembrance of war and conflict, some dead to mourn as a result of warfare. The day, November 11, has commemorated dead warriors, throughout the Western world, since the armistice of the First World War.
Those who serve in the defense of their families and countries - like the Gaulish soldier St. Martin of Tours, who tore his fine cloak in two to cloth the needy - tear the cloak of their lives in two, severing themselves from accustomed comfort and habitual kindness to enter a zone of pain and confrontation.
In our own age, where much of the warfare is against ignorance, heartlessness, and environmental devastation, new kinds of warriors learn the art of sacrifice with a different set of weapons. They seek to tear their lives in two to make a greater mantle in the defense of the poor, the innocent, the needy.
We no longer glorify war as our ancestors did; the loss, grief, and bewilderment of families for their fallen have been too great in this century for such assuaging. We count the cost and bless the sacrifice of those who have had the courage to tear the cloak in two, knowing that they did not glory in the pain and bloodshed any more than we ourselves now do.
"Make your own prayer of remembrance for those who have died in war, and for those who are on the battlefield of conflict throughout the world today."
[From: "The Celtic Spirit" by Caitlin Matthews]
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