What Do We Remember?

In my hometown there is a WWII air museum.  It has one of the last intact Lancaster bombers on display.  Volunteers recently rebuilt and restored all four engines. Several times a year, this airplane will be brought outside and they fire up those mighty engines.  It’s an impressive display and always draws a large crowd.  Nanton, Alberta is a small community…with a population of only 2000 souls, but big enough that I’m always astounded at how loud the roar of the Lancaster’s engines are no matter where you are in town.  

Loud and ominous like a distant rolling thunder.  

Last summer I stood there in the crowd and observed the engine run as I have many times before.  On this occasion I imagined that I was back in time when this aircraft was fulfilling its intended purpose.  I imagined that I was on the ground and hearing the approaching death.  The terror that must have been felt as the last sound those people heard was the loud, angry roar of those engines with no place to hide.  

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”  What does this have to do with a Lancaster bomber?  It has to do with how we as humans have always tried to deal with conflict. How many wars have we fought with the idea that it will ultimately result in peace?  How many wars do we need to fight in the future before we finally figure out that we are indeed collectively insane?

There are those who have actually used nonviolence and diplomacy in the past.  They have left an indelible mark on the pages of history.  The most notable ones that immediately come to mind are; Mahatma Gandhi, Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr. and Jesus of Nazareth.  They showcased the power of non-violence and became beacons of hope that there might be a way out of the downward vortex of human hatred and fighting. Can you imagine a world in which people like this are not the exception, but the rule?  Imagine if they represented  a normalized response to conflict?  

We know that violence perpetuates more violence and it just keeps escalating with each retaliation. This is well documented. We also know that forgiveness absorbs the blow of violence and when that destructive energy is recycled into forgiveness, there is healing and potential for relationship.  Yes, it is risky. It is costly, but it ALWAYS leads to the greater good of humanity. 

Allow me to quote the inspired words of Andrew Klager as written in Brad Jersak’s book, “A More Christlike Way”:

“Those who say Jesus Way of nonviolence and peacemaking are naïve and unrealistic reveal that they think is the most real.  The kingdoms of this world are more real to them than the kingdom of God.

Violence never creates peace, only a lull. It defeats or exhausts your opponents without dealing with the conditions that first created the violence.  Defeating the other only puts us in the position of power (e.g. the Treaty of Versailles). We become the belligerent who exacerbates the problem. The pseudo-peace only buys time for the defeated to reload. The next war becomes the inevitable. Violence doesn’t work—killing only enrages the clan and escalation comes next. The next retribution must always be one step higher.  It’s a naïve non-solution. 

Compassion and kindness, by contrast, have real potential to tap into and draw out the true self of our world-be enemies. Compassion and kindness are more effective than bullets and bombs because they awaken what is more real than this life. However twisted, we are still humans created in the image of God. Peacebuilding is effective in awakening the kingdom of God in this world because it IS more real.”  

This remembrance day, let us indeed remember. 

Not the glory of victory. Not the triumph of standing with our boot on the neck of our enemy. 

As we attend remembrance day services, stand there at museums, air shows and military demonstrations, instead of celebrating our victories and superior weaponry, let us feel sorrow at our lust for violence. Let us regret our creation of the war machines on display.  Let’s remember the senseless deaths of our soldiers. Let’s also remember the needless deaths of our enemies. And mourn both. 

Let’s remember that there is no such thing as just war. There is no such thing as righteous violence. Let’s remember that war has never worked to create lasting peace and never will. 

Let’s remember and work towards the sanity of non-violence.