Congregation Comes Together in Conception Bay

The Portraits of Honour National Tour made its way into Conception Bay escorted by Royal Newfoundland Constabulary vehicles and RCMP vehicles. A large contingent of Veteran’s motorcyclists followed closely behind.

With the first Portraits of Honour ceremony ever to be held in a church scheduled to begin within the hour, some wondered if those present that were not affiliated to the religion of the nearby church would feel uncomfortable during the ceremony.

However once the dozens that had gathered paraded into the church and found themselves in quiet thought, everyone present began to feel like one connected congregation.

The ceremony focused on feelings of thanks for those who serve our country, feelings of grief at the loss of young life, and prayers of hope for a better future. These thoughts and hopes were shared among all those gathered. Grief and hope are universal. The civilians of Afghanistan share these same feelings as well.

The people of Afghanistan are thankful for the opportunities that our brave young troops are helping to provide, they grieve for the loss of young life that happens daily in their country, and they hope one day to have even some of the prosperity, freedom and justice we enjoy everyday.

The brave young men and women depicted on the Portraits of Honour understand that our similarities across cultures are for more common than our differences; that we are all humans hoping for happiness, health and safety.

Like those gathered in the church, they looked past the differences in culture or interpretation or tradition, and saw another human being that needed their help.

They came together across culture barriers to try to make a better world, and in a church in Conception Harbour, people of all different backgrounds came together to thank them.