Choose the Right

Remembrance Day approaches and once again we take time to show our appreciation for those who fought the evil regimes which threatened to destroy our freedom.  We won!  We’re free!  And we’re grateful.

At least we should be.  The freedom they purchased with their lives enables us to make choices.  Every day.  We’re free to vote, free to complain, free to go to school, free to choose our employment, free to attend church, free to write things that anger others.

As we’re reminded often, we all have the right to make our own choices.  But the bigger question is:  Are we making the right choices?  What are we doing with the freedom we’ve been given?

What constitutes a “right choice” will depend on the person making the choice and his or her circumstances, but we would do well to remember this time-honoured truth:  Every choice has a consequence.

Consequences can be good or bad, immediate or delayed, minor or catastrophic.  They can affect one person or millions.  They can be easily foreseen or a surprise.  But while we are free to make choices, we are not free to choose the consequences of those choices.  I can choose to stay up ‘til 1:00 a.m. reading, but I can’t escape the possible consequence of being tired the next morning.

Thus, instead of telling each other repeatedly that we have the “right to choose”, wouldn’t it be better to help each other “choose the right”?

How can we know what is a right choice?  We read.  We think.  We pray.  We discuss our options with those who care about us.  We make pros and cons lists.  We study history and the experiences of others.  Then we weigh the information carefully and follow our hearts and consciences.

And we remember that, like those who chose to fight for our freedom, the best choices aren’t always the easy ones.

O Canada Lifts Spirits - Letter to the Editor

I took my children to their assigned classrooms this past Wednesday morning. When they were settled, I stopped at a table near the entrance of the school to pay the required fees.

It was then that I began to cry. I wasn’t sad that my children were back in school, nor was it the amount written on the cheque that misted my eyes.

It was the music. And something else.

As I leaned over the table to write the cheque, the principal’s voice came over the PA system welcoming students back to school. Then, as is customary each morning, our national anthem flooded the speakers.

I put my pen down and straightened as the woman taking the fees also rose to her feet and began to sing. All the parents nearby stood respectfully as O Canada filled the air. True, most of the parents weren’t actually singing, and I had to stop when the words switched to French, but I still enjoyed the music. And the feeling.

Hearing our national anthem does something to me. Stirs something inside. Uplifts my soul. Swells my heart. Could those feelings be – patriotism?

I must admit, there are times when I fear for our country, fear for the decline of patriotism in our communities. Sometimes the chitchat and lack of respect that is apparent during formal ceremonies and the singing of our anthem is disheartening. But that wasn’t the case last Wednesday.

Jane Fonda said, “When I'm in Canada, I feel this is what the world should be like.” Standing there with other parents and administrators, I thought, “This is what it feels like to be part of a great country, a great community.”

I blinked back the tears and swallowed the lump in my throat as I silently added one more reason to my list of why I love this town.