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DELANEY: Remembrance Day and the lesson to be learned from a courageous young nurse

Her name was Edith Cavell

Another Remembrance Day approaches.

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Public places bear witness to Legionnaires pinning poppies on lapels. Soon politicians will engage in platitudinous bromides telling us how fortunate we all are for not now speaking German.

I never took to this one, thinking how nice it would be to speak German and several other languages for that matter. We would do well to emulate the 16th century monarch Charles V, who it was said spoke Spanish to God, French to men, Italian to women and German to his horse.

That aside, what is it we should remember, if indeed we should remember anything at all besides, of course, the belief that we should engage in some ritualistic practice.

It is not improper to ask such questions.

In fact, it is invariably a good thing to apply the skeptical brush to any inquiry and to invite all aspects of a free and responsible speech into the dialogue. Having this in mind, permit me to address the subject of Remembrance Day and how one might consider its significant meaning.

In doing so, I am not thinking of war per se. In fact, I regard war and militarism both as being abhorrent exponents of human failure. Neither bear any of the glory or nobility often accorded them. The true features of both are testament to blood-soaked mire, brutality, human degradation and every other element........

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