It’s Poppy Day here today. I just heard “Reveille” playing after the one minute’s silence to remember those who died in defence of their country or the freedoms of others.
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| -My thanks to the unknown author and Bing for this image |
It’s well to spend a few moments remembering the dead. Imagine what the world would look like today had they not given their lives. At the time it was the greatest emergency the world had ever faced.
Now we are facing another. One that threatens the whole human race, every other species and the very biosphere on which we all depend. It’s more difficult today. The enemy wears no uniform that we can identify. Nor does it carry weapons unless you mean that smooth voice that whispers if just buy this thing or that, you’ll be perfect, desirable and successful. Sometimes it’s the well -dressed person in a suit sitting in an office a long way away, making decisions on our behalf, or telling us we need plastic containers for convenience, or we are saving the planet each time we buy something else. Sometimes it's us. When we listen to those persuasive voices. Each time we buy, each time we take the easy way, each time we act unconsciously instead thinking what effect will this action have, we contribute to the problem. We need to ask where does this product come from, what’s it made of and where does it go? And do we really, really need it? As a society and as individuals we can no longer do what we’ve always done.
Time is the other enemy we have. Politicians tell us that things will change by 2050, by 2060, when the change needs to happen now at the latest. Let’s call on the dead to give us courage for the biggest battle of our lives, so their sacrifice is not in vain. I'm sure they would want us to keep fighting.
Lest we forget
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