Letter: Canada must change course on conflicts

I was pleased to hear our government has at last decided to take care of our brave men and women that put their lives on the line to protect us and the country we love.

The $200 million will go a long way to provide the care our service people not only require, but in my mind, deserve. The only downside to this is that it took so long. If this money had been made available sooner, perhaps there would not have been so many suicides among our military.

However, we are as much to blame for this outrage as our elected officials, because we stood by and never took them to task. We live in a messy world and no doubt as time passes, we will be drawn into further conflicts. Perhaps it is time to switch directions, because every time we try to improve things, we just make a bigger mess.

As I write these words, I am reminded of the words of a man from Galilee, who brought us hope, who brought light into the darkness.

“Love God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your might, and love your neighbour as yourself. Love and pray for your enemies.”

Two men in the 20th century followed the way of peace and love, and made history. They were Ghandi, who freed his country from British control without firing a shot, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who changed the face of America.

If two men could do so much, imagine what a country could do if we tried.

I will close now with the words of Paul the apostle, “Love is long-suffering, it is kind. Love does not envy, nor does it vaunt itself. It is not puffed up, nor does it act unseemly, or seek its own things. It does not provoke, or promote evil. Love does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes, hopes and endures. Love never fails. Much will pass away, but faith, hope and love will remain, and the greatest of these three is love.”

John Rice
Greater Sudbury