O Canada, O World

Canada, the true north, strong and free. These words have been spoken about for generations. Our collective birthplace on this glittering blue and green globe.

Today, on Canada day, I am reminded about that dream, the beautiful red and white, that shines with all colours of the rainbow, all people united in praise of being Canadian.

Our culture, our rich heritage, is one of collective expression. We, like most of our species are dreamers, we are explorers, theologians, artists, musicians, scientists and wanderers. Our ancestors came to this great land with the hopes of the future.

Over the years, their descendants followed their example. Spurred on, by not only their struggle, but their hopes of a new country unbound by the histories of where they came from. Together those explorers, those dreamers, built our country from the bedrock.

As new explorers joined us, we evolved our understanding of who we were, as we welcomed new identity and new expression.

We learned, evolved and found places within the collective expression of humanity. The convergence of cultural, religious and judiciary customs and beliefs helped to shape our country. Even today, our rich heritage grows more beautiful as new experiences are added to our own.

Today I look out at all the beautiful faces that surround us. Some from abroad and some birthed from the maple leaf, but each of us Canadian. No matter the places you came from, your beliefs, customs, political ideals, we, all of us, rise the red and white flag and feel pride. That ideal, that standard of multiculturalism that helps to shape our understanding of the world. To bridge the divides between us by living that promise of understanding, learning and evolving.

We come together to support eachother and our country, to have pride in ourselves and our people. It doesn’t matter if you have been here you entire life or a newcomer, once you raise up that flag you become a Canadian. Your stories, your beautiful loving identities adding more depth and beauty to our own.

Together we weave a beautiful tapestry, sing a crescendo of common ground. Together we are better than apart, stronger united than divided alone. Our country, our beautiful native land full of promise. A promise of unity, despite the differences we face, an ideal to aspire to, dream beyond, and evolve towards.

Each of us a maple leaf in this beautiful land, cling to eachother, multiculturalism: the tree on which we grow. Together we show eachother that the differences between us need not separate us, but instead move us. Through our hearts, our minds and our souls as we chart tomorrow. Each of us adding to the collective identity of our country, but more importantly adding to the definition of humankind itself.

Days like today, as we come together, celebrate our home and it’s people, we remember that promise. To eachother, that oath is made, come together, enrich eachother, feed eachother, teach eachother and evolve eachother.

Through the beacon of our unity we spark hope in a world racked in despair. Here, you can love who you were born to love, live free from terror and oppression, and build a better tomorrow for you and your families.

We have solved some of the many problems that plague other nations, and yet, together, we keep reaching higher. Being better than we were yesterday, by supporting eachother, and who we are as a nation. Defending that ideal and at times evolving what that ideal means to all Canadians.

Canadian identity is always changing, always evolving, as we ourselves evolve, challenging our idea of what we stand for. Each time we add to that ideal, that dream we add more depth to an already beautiful nation, more color to a shining flag.

Tomorrow is possible by the steps we take today to love eachother. To bridge the gaps between us to build a better foundation for all those that follow. To care for not just our beautiful flag, but all the wonderful flags of the world, and all the beautiful hearts that lie beneath them.

“You either create a world for everyone or else you will end up in a world fit for no one”—John Ames Birch