We stand on guard for thee

Ken's Korner
by Ken Johnston

I found myself in deep reflection on Sunday as the Legion’s Chaplain Pat White spoke at the annual Remembrance Day ceremonies on Sunday.

She brought up September 11th and the horrors evil can bring. It was something that so many of us have thought about since it happened and I am sure many people thought about yesterday when word of another plane crash in New York echoed around the globe.

It is strange how this time I thought exactly the opposite of my first reaction to September 11th. I am sure that many of us thought the first plane hitting the tower in NY was a tragic accident. While it was bad, I just thought it was another plane crash.

It is sad any time there is a crash but they have become more and more common over the years, especially as more and more planes take to the air.

Then when another plane hit the other tower it became clear that it was an attack. I could not believe it was really happening.

Having two months to think about it and countless anthrax scares since then, my first thoughts yesterday were that it must be another attack. “Just a crash” in the same city that was so devastated two months and a day ago did not seem possible.

Yet as the day wore on, it seemed that was what had happened.

The world had truly changed. Not only is it more dangerous, the freedoms we have taken for granted for so many decades have been threatened to the point that we now stand on guard at all times.

We sing the words, O Canada, We stand on guard for thee, and now know what they mean.

We have been blessed with tremendous freedom for so long. It was a freedom that did not come without a price and it seems that the price continues to be fully unpaid.

Our hearts go out to the people lost in the plane crash on Monday and prayers to NY and the free world that they will stand on guard no matter how hard this evil attacks.

–Until then,

Ken