In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
— Lt.-Col. John McCrae (1872 – 1918)
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As I have made clear before, it is possible, and probably in accordance with Scripture, that pacifists like me affirm our admiration for those who have been willing to put their lives on the line for a righteous cause here on earth. In the historical scheme of things, there are many heros whose lives indeed did make a difference for others here.
It is also worth noting that many soldiers have been won to Christ while at war overseas. I know this personally to be true. The Spirit can move to God’s glory in any place. I admire men like Scotty and Joe C..
My first exposure to this poem was when the TV show came out that this video comes from. Perhaps it may seem cheesy to some, but the childlike innocence juxtaposed against the serious nature of the poem hits it perfectly for me.
And ranks this as Linus’ second greatest recitation behind Luke 2.
The draft caught my husband during the last days of the war in Vietnam. We were childhood sweethearts then and pacifists as well having been raised as evangelical Quakers. What to do? Conscientious objector status was an option. However, after much prayer seeking God’s leading he decided to enlist in the navy and became a hospital corpsman. He never saw action there but treated and sewed up a lot of marines in his sick bay on board a troop transport ship stationed in southeast Asia. He had many opportunities to win men to Christ. As he likes to say, those guys were a “captive” audience.
It is encouraging to see someone who wrestled with his convictions and was redemptive in his decision, regardless of which decision he made. Thank you.
i think that’s a great way to remain true to the principles of non-violence…
It turned out to be the first of many subsequent, hard lessons testing our faith in Christ that we’re still learning decades later: we don’t serve our principles; we serve a Person.
but that Person represents and promulgated “principles”…
All those principles are important, but they all draw their life from redemption. If you do not have redemption right, you are dead, regardless of how many principles you obey.
Which always leads me to the question that never seems to be relevant, much less answered.
If a preacher starts his teaching/book/CD with an open “no one can be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ” in some form, and then he goes the entire teaching/book/CD completely dealing with relationships and acts of philanthropy, then one could say his focus is wrong.
But when you cannot find any open statements with which language is universally understood that states unequivocally that “”no one can be saved without personal faith in Jesus Christ”, why is that not very important?
I will always believe that is due to a mixture of reaction against those who question it and a reaction in support of him who is being questioned. It certainly cannot be because the statements are there for everyone to see.