FPC-Midland Belize Mission: An occasion we share, an occasion for prayer

IN FLANDERS FIELDS 

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 Alexander McCrae, MD - Canadian Expeditionary Force

There in the U.S., one doesn't see the poppies on people's lapels so much, as we used to when I was a child.There in the U.S, today is Veterans Day ... here in Belize, which was once a British colony, it is Remembrance Day, and there will be special observances, especially down on the coast in Belize City, I am told. 

It is a good occasion - in Belize and the United States - for contemplation and prayer ... especially during that eleventh hour of the day, when the Armistice took effect in 1918, bring an end to the First World War.

Armistice Day, Remembrance Day, Veterans Day ..... call it what you will ..... but find some way to mark this day. Here, in America, the focus of the day has been expanded to honor all men and women who, throughout history, have answered their country's call to serve. There have been many in our own family, but - mindful of the origins of this particular holiday - I will have an added word of thanks for one of my grandfathers, Frederick, a sergeant with the 102nd Balloon Company, U.S. Air Service, American Expeditionary Force, and his service in France during the First World War.