Soul Magic -- by David McLaughlan

POPPY HEART

I wore my poppy to church on Sunday morning.

For those who don’t know, November 11th is Remembrance Sunday in the UK. It’s when we honour our war dead and remember the horrors of war in the forlorn hope it will never happen again.

Some time ago Earl Haig set up a charitable fund for soldiers who were wounded in battle or were otherwise in need of help. They decided to sell paper poppies to raise funds for their cause.

Legend has it that poppies were the first flowers to grow on the shattered fields of France after the Armistice was signed. Given the amount of blood those fields had soaked up the red of the poppy must have seemed highly appropriate.

Anyway, as I said, I was wearing my poppy when ten year old Katie came running up to me.

“’Scuse me,” she said as she stood on her tip-toes to make a couple of quick adjustments.

She took the two bottom petals and folded them over, tucking the edges under the black centre piece. This brought the bottom of the flower to a point and that, combined with the curves of the top two petals, had the effect of turning the familiar poppy shape into another familiar shape; a red love heart!

I’ve no doubt Katie thought it was a neat trick – and it was. But a wave of emotion swept over me as I realised how fitting it was.

After all, the whole idea is that we are remembering the sacrifices made by young men and women in many wars across many decades, all in the name of our freedom.

So, what better way is there to remember such a thing than with love? And what better way to appreciate it than with all of our heart?

--   © by David McLaughlan

“Finding the extra in the ordinary.”

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