Bambi cannot go to sleep without taking the time to quickly comment on the following CBC article she read earlier today. It means a lot for her to do so:
Year after year, we see respect toward our veterans eroded a little bit more.
Since when a prayer is not “inclusive” by definition?
A prayer is all about spirituality.
Spirituality is a moment (or a longer journey) of inner peace, of hope, of gratitude, of love, and of communion with others.
Whether we believe in God, in Gods or Goddesses, or not at all, this prayer is meant to provide us with a sense of peace, a moment of reflection, a connection with the past for a better future, a communion with our inner selves, with human beings, with nature, with the creator if we believe/want to believe or if we just take the time to respect.
Most importantly, such prayer (whether silent or filled with wise words) is our traditional way of pausing to honour those who have served and survived as well as those who lost their lives whilst serving.
It is also an indirect way of saying thank you and for asking for the protection of those risking their lives to make our world safer, more peaceful, and freer, etc.
Last weekend, in a different town, at a workshop meant for families, Bambi promised family members organizing/hosting the public outreach event to take the time in her welcoming words to pause to honour three individuals who took their lives in the past weeks in this community (after losing their battle with mental health).
The whole audience of families, staff, physicians, and clinicians closed their eyes with Bambi for a minute of silence. This brief, silent pause was also meant to send positive vibes to families and friends in their grief journey.
No one felt offended or triggered. No one questioned the relevance of the gesture.
Last year, at another public event in our own town, one of the invited speakers was from a First Nations community. She asked Bambi if she can say a prayer (mind you, she did not ask to recognize the land). Bambi’s answer was: “Of course. Please do so!”
At the end of the event, Bambi asked this colleague if she wishes to close the event with a prayer. This colleague asked another speaker to do so. This is how it was spontaneously done.
The spiritual circle was closed.
Again, no one felt offended or triggered. No one questioned the relevance.
So. how can we be so unwell in our current society to the point of cutting all the bridges with whom we are, with our history, and with the transmission of traditions and memories to our children?
George Santayana said it so well: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it”.
How sad all this, to say the least.
How insulting to our veterans and to the memory of our ancestors and loved ones.
Indeed, such a ceremony is also a sort of tribute to the values our veterans defended to allow us to live peacefully and in freedom.
Ironically, there are many people around the world (ie. in Lebanon for sure!) who are dreaming to have a beautiful country like Canada or… to immigrate to it.
Thus, to come back to the CBC article, as a sad conclusion to this post, Bambi thinks that one reader’s comment summarizes the situation well in one single word: “Garbage”.
Even at med school ceremony, they did a spiritual prayer and a first nation one.
At the graduations too…