Canada Day

Please take this dove of Peace

and place it on your homepage
so that we can circle the world
for Peace in this troubled age.
Through internet connections
we can network a peaceful bond
by sharing this dove of peace
and passing it on and on. . .

Canada Day Crafts For Kids

GOD BLESS OUR COUNTRY CANADA

God bless our country Canada with unity and love,
shower us with grace from your heavenly home above.
Help us join together with You as our guide,
renewing this great country, let peace not be denied.
Help us to repent for our hardened hearts
and let us not dismiss any way we've played a part,
in causing any bitterness through our words and actions Lord,
grant us reconciliation so that hope may be restored.
Oh God, please open every heart so our attitudes will be,
those of love and understanding to encourage unity.
Please dispel the darkness and replace it with Your light,
help our leaders choose always what is right.
Let us not take for granted the freedom we have shared,
leading folks from many nations to make their homelands here.
Help every home and family, each province near and far,
take part in the solution as Your love fills our hearts.

I wrote this poem/prayer on November 1, 1995 while prayerfully reflecting on the unity crisis in Canada. I invite others to join me in my prayer for this great country. Readers who choose to do so may share this prayer with family and friends. United in prayer, I believe we can make a positive difference in this world.

With prayerful best wishes for all readers, Viola Marie Doncaster, East Bay, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Letter to the Editor(Canadian Unity)

Letter to the Editor(Common Voice)

Rights and Responsibilities

We Do Not Forget

We do not forget that lives were lost
and though we're unable to measure the cost,
when we open our hearts to the tragedies born
we can sense the pain the survivors have worn.
The battles that raged on the fields of war
the veterans remember forever more,
and the men who flew and were lost at sea
left an emptiness for their families.
The battles for freedom took many lives
and disrupted others though they didn't die,
for the comrades they knew who did not come home
lead veterans to remind us where the poppies grow;
as they set up in malls or stores around towns
passing out poppies to folks who come 'round,
and if you take time to chat a while...
you'll perceive the pain behind their smiles.
So "we do not forget" the lives that were lost
and we stop to give thanks, to those who paid the cost,
so that you and I might walk around free,
blessed to give peace opportunity.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Written in memory of all veterans
especially mom's uncle Major Clarence L. Tinker
who died during World War II.
First read at Remembrance Day Services
at the East Bay Legion, Branch 151.
(c) Viola Doncaster, November 9, 1997.

A Monumental Reminder
A New Vision of Peace

A monument stands beside a cemetery road
lest we forget the many souls,
whose lives were cut short by the ravages of war
'cause they believed in the freedom they were fighting for.
They could never have known how war's devastation
would leave its impact on every nation,
with lives lost and bodies maimed
and broken hearts for the freedom gained;
a freedom that we often take for granted
unless we reflect on how veterans have planted
seeds of hope for generations to come
that peace will flourish in the hearts of everyone.
Our veterans stories can teach us all
how the battle for power caused nations to fall,
pitting human beings against each other
when truly we're all sisters and brothers.
Our veterans stories can teach us too
how the combat of war paints a powerful view,
a new vision of peace so that prisoners of war
is a lived experience never more.
Our veterans stories must grow in our hearts
so that peace will blossom though our veterans depart,
so that monuments reading "Lest We Forget"
bid us offer a prayer for folks we've never met,
the men and women who gave their lives...
the youth of many nations who fought and died,
the youth who returned home to share
a new vision of peace with people everywhere.
So let us give thanks whenever we see
war monuments, or poppies...reminders we're free,
free to promote peaceful interaction,
free to thank God we're not missing in action.

----------------------------------
Written in memory of all veterans
to share the horrors of war and visions of peace.
Inspired in many ways after talking with John Williams
- a vetran - and after watching Live At Five on Remembrance Day.
(c) Viola Doncaster, East Bay, CB November 11, 1997.

Return To Viola's Home Page

Please take this dove of Peace and place it on your homepage so that we can circle the world for Peace in this troubled age. Through internet connections we can network a peaceful bond by sharing this dove of peace and passing it on and on. . .