November 5, 2006

 

Memorial Service

 

   This Remembrance Day, Canada’s largest war memorial will be shrouded in scaffolding as workers preserve the past in hopes of protecting the future.  That project is underway, not here but in northern France at Vimy Ridge.

 

   On April 2, 1917, Canadian gunners began what was then the biggest artillery barrage in history, shelling German trenches along a strategic 12 kilometre rise of land.  More than a million shells rained down in a week.  

 

   Right after Easter Sunday, 30,000 Canadian soldiers began their assault while the artillery aimed their 850 cannons a little higher on the ridge every three minutes, clearing more ground.  The foot soldiers had to keep moving forward, using the barrage as a screen. Falling behind would make them sitting ducks. Getting ahead of the artillery would get them killed by their own guns. 

 

   In four days, 3,600 Canadian soldiers died and another 5,000 were wounded. But the ridge was taken and the victory was the first allied success of the long war.  Almost a century later, the ground is so full of unexploded shells that it’s too dangerous to search the battlefield for soldiers still listed as missing, and visitors are warned not to stray from marked pathways. 

 

   But high on the ridge stands the Vimy Memorial, a towering cenotaph that took eleven years and $1.5 million to build.  On two imposing stone pillars representing Canada and France, are the names of 11,285 soldiers whose remains were never found.  A huge hooded figure representing Canada herself, gazes down on a single tomb butfaces east towards a new day.  Another figure, set between the two pillars, is the Spirit of Sacrifice throwing a torch to those who must continue the battle.  Looking on are Justice, Truth and Knowledge, while a Cross adorns the outside of the memorial.

 

   On the massive site, trenches and passageways have been preserved and grass can’t completely hide the craters that still testify to the horrors of 1917, but the focus is on the future.  The Vimy Memorial is closed for restoration work, including cleaning and some recarving. The restored monument will be unveiled April 9, the 90th anniversary of the battle.  Since the land on which it stands was given for all time to the people of Canada by the French, the memorial is a tiny but profoundly important piece of Canada in a foreign land.

 

   In much the same way, the church was designed by God to be a lasting testimony to the sacrifice of his Son, a piece of heaven in a foreign place.  Right from Easter Sunday when the resurrection of Jesus demonstrated real hope of dominion over sin and death, his followers were called to advance the cause.  The power of God rains down from above, but we must continue to press the fight against dark forces, keeping pace with the Spirit without lagging behind or running ahead.  

 

   Though ultimate victory is assured, there are fights yet to be fought.  Casualties can run high, whether we’re still in the firestorm of sin and temptation, or straying from the path into areas where the long-buried bombs from our past threaten to obliterate the security we now enjoy.  Amid it all, the church should be a towering memorial to the triumph of Jesus and its implications for all soldiers of the Cross.

 

   Even in the face of death, He looks at the tomb, not with mere mourning for those who fight on his behalf, but with the certainty of a new Day.  To us, the Spirit throws the torch and we must continue to win the battle with the weapons of justice, truth and knowledge, confident in the power of the Cross.  

 

   While the church needs to preserve the vital story of the past, it’s absolutely essential we keep our focus on what lies ahead. We must stop periodically to be cleaned and restored so our testimony to the future generation will be strong, relevant and lasting.  At the same time, that restoration should remind all of us where our strength comes from.  Lest we forget.  

 

By Rick Gamble.  Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada.  Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications.  To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at sgamble@bfree.on.ca