A Broken Nose and Grace

When I was in the Canadian Armed Forces, I was invited to the premiere screening of the movie “Act of Valor.” I promptly invited my wife, who was my girlfriend at the time on this free date. Once at the theaters, having proven I was a Canadian Armed Forces member, we walked down the hallway with theater doors on either side, but it was clear where we were heading. You could have been blind and known where you were going. We were headed for the door where the most noise was coming from.

I anxiously walked in first, wondering what was happening, and from what I could see, the army guys had established a stronghold in the upper left to center of the theater, the air force crew was well established in the far upper right side, and the navy had established an armada by the “port of entry” down below. It was an all-out war of abusive words, and popcorn was being used as cannon fodder. As you looked around, a poor adolescent movie theater attendant was trying to keep the peace, looking scared out of his mind. Then there was my girlfriend, a military brat with a dad who served in both the Army and the Air Force. She wasn’t surprised at all. She all but put out her elbows and forced her way to the right side, the army side, where we found two seats and settled in for the movie. The chaos finally settled down when the movie came on. Once the movie was over, guys made plans to go share in regimental and elemental traditions at their preferred watering hole. Before they left, everyone stooped and cleaned up what was immediately around them, some yelling, “Manage that brass boys” gesturing to the “spent popcorn on the ground.” The theater attendants stood surprised as these men and women who were previously engaged in an all-out verbal and popcorn war banded together and cleaned the theater before leaving. It was impressive to see.

See, we used to have a tradition in the military that regiments can make fun of regiments within a trade; however, if another trade makes fun of one of our fellow trades, we will go to proverbial arms. However, if another element makes fun of our element, we will go to proverbial war. Likewise, if a civilian thinks they can say anything disrespectful to anyone in the military or take a swing at them, they have another thing coming. When I was in, the military was the biggest dysfunctional family there was, meaning they would fight each other (Recce leads the way! Arty Leads the way! Engineers lead the way! etc), but far be it from them if anyone else attempts disrespecting their family.

I say this because sometimes, as messed up as those old traditions are, they are healthy and bind the family together. Back when… a brother could expect a smack from their brother, but if that brother saw someone swing on his brother, all bets were off. What is alarming is that this brotherhood seemingly no longer exists at large. Gone are the days when you stood with your brother through adversity. Now, if the attention wasn’t on me, it didn’t involve me.

This is sad.

Now, I am not advocating for violence to resolve violence or name-calling. For that matter, I don’t think that settles anything. My most recent fight happened some six years ago, where apparently, this guy's girlfriend dumped him, so he went to a pub with his friend. At this pub were my brothers and me. The guy, for some unknown reason, decided he didn’t like me and, from behind, gave me a boot down some stairs. Once firmly planted I faced off with the guy and dodged a few punches with some basic parries. Eventually, the guy started to tire, and I began to talk to him. Upon talking to him, I found out about his lady issues, and I sympathized with him, offering him some comfort and condolence for his situation. He expressed his remorse. We then turned separate ways, and then my younger brother decided to open his big mouth, which got the guy angry again. By the end of it, my nose ended up broken. Another brother helped me in that scrap while my brother with the big mouth just said too much the whole time.

Why do I share that story? Because in that time, I had come to Christ, and so the ways of Christ began to impact my life, including the way I think, what I say, and what I do. I remembered the words, “As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18. I knew I was in control and needed to do something with this guy. He didn’t mean nothing. He was just hurting, and talking was all he needed. I mean, until he was provoked again.

Romans 12:9-21 says this:

Romans 12:9–21 NASB95

Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor; not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation. Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men. If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men. Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. “But if your enemy is hungry, feed him, and if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

See, when I showed this guy kindness by not striking back initially but talking to him, his evil intent left him, and we found peace with each other. It was only when my younger brother, who wasn’t involved at all, decided to insert his not-so-peaceful words into the conversation after my new friend and I had parted ways that evil took hold of his heart again. In the end, I would suffer for my brother's lack of peace but abundance of words.

This causes me to wonder about how we handle those around us. When I talk to the veterans around me, those who have served and signed their names on the dotted line…

On that blank cheque to Canada that amounted up to and including their lives.

The veterans that I communicate with believe that there are wolves that are no longer in sheep's clothing around us. But what do you do with people who are blatantly in Canadian streets chanting “Death to Canada.” As veterans, we all sacrificed, some more than others, to protect the Canadian way, and now here at home, we are hearing of ideologies which call for the “Death of Canada.” Those are words that should concern all of us. We are Canada. All of us together, we are Canada! So what does it mean when you have a whole crowd of people chanting “Death to Canada”? I mean, it is clear. If law enforcement were to ask me what I think should happen in that matter, I would suggest that those people should be jailed for terroristic threats because they are, by nature, just that.

That said, there is a Canadian way, which we should be proud of and strive to uphold and defend. The Canadian way of the past holds others accountable for the wrongs that they have done, all the while treating the wrongdoers with dignity. Look at WW1 or WW2 and the impact that Canadians had. It was said by the axes that they would rather face anyone else in battle but the Canadians; however, they would rather be a prisoner of war of the Canadians than anyone else. That is an interesting paradox. How did Canadians become so revered yet feared in years gone by? Whether we like it or not, the Canadian way was developed and formed by the influence of the Bible, and so the words that we read in the Bible became very formational in the way we did things as Canadians. So, as a Christian Padre, I still see the importance of the guidance of the scriptures in our everyday life. The scriptures can guide all of us, no matter our walk of life, because of the common sense good it teaches.

“Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” are a few of the words that guided our forefathers as they ferociously fought for peace and mercifully gave it to their prisoners of war. The very idea of those words was foundational and formational in a good way. Those words that we just read mean that if we were to stoop to the level of those who threaten us and hate us, we would no longer be who we are, which is uniquely Canadian. That's not to say we shouldn’t enforce consequences on dangerous actions and intentions because those things don’t allow us to live peacefully; they terrorize our peace. But in being Canadian, we offer our coats to those in need, even those who want to harm us.

Canadians historically have lived by the standards “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.” I remember my first time hearing the rule that we (as soldiers) need to give the same standard of care to an injured enemy soldier as we would to an allied soldier. The thought behind this is we begin to turn the enemies from within, from enemies to allies. The idea was we would start to adjust the dangerous ideologies from the inside with kindness. By taking the high road.

Where they would mistreat us, we respect them.

As hard as this is to do, it is incredibly effective. It is also essential to recognize that just because someone looks like a specific group of people, it doesn’t mean that they are guilty of the same evil. Soldiers, Airmen, and Sailors will jab at each other, but they will defend each other rigorously, and when the dust settles, they will give the best care in the world to each other and everyone around them.

What can we learn from all this? It is simple: My friends, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay, says the lord. On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

If he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Finally, my friends, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Let us unite as Canadians and be distinctly that, Canadian.

Let’s Pray