An old Ballad from an Off-Broadway Show in the 1960s – The Fantasticks – repeats a phrase: “Try To Remember When Life Was So Tender…Our hearts should Remember...Try To Remember, And If You Remember…” An oft-repeated Statement: "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." is an appropriate one for our day and time. Today (May 25th) is designated Memorial Day – a time to Remember those who died in the military when they had been called into war to preserve freedom. Sadly, the clutter of ones activities can blur and cloud the meaning and purpose of pausing to Remember.
From Wikipedia: “Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings…While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day…Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic…and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery…It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May…
There have been rallying cries over the years from “Remember The Alamo” to “Remember Pearl Harbor” to “Remember 9/11”… General Douglas MacArthur eloquently shared some meaningful words on May 12, 1962 at West Point: “…Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn…Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God. I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth…”
War is a blight and tragedy upon our planet! Things get broken and destroyed; people get wounded, or captured, or tortured, or killed; families get separated; etc. A core value shared by Abraham Lincoln and later emblazoned on a US Army Poster during World War II was: “Right Is Might.” It is the commitment to that which is “Right” that needs to be Remembered and serve as our motivation. Righteousness exalts a nation… The prayers of a Righteous man avail much… As Joshua prepared the nation for his departure, he shares a basic premise for them to remember (Joshua 24:13-17): “…fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord…” The Nation of Israel had fought many battles and the Lord granted them victory and gave them The Promised Land as their possession. They needed to Remember that it was the Lord Who delivered them and granted them victory. As we pause to Remember those who were killed while protecting and defending our nation against all enemies – foreign and domestic – we need to also Remember that The Lord is our Fortress, Strength and Shield! Try To Remember…!!
From Wikipedia: “Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service. There are many stories as to its actual beginnings…While Waterloo N.Y. was officially declared the birthplace of Memorial Day by President Lyndon Johnson in May 1966, it's difficult to prove conclusively the origins of the day…Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic…and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery…It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May…
There have been rallying cries over the years from “Remember The Alamo” to “Remember Pearl Harbor” to “Remember 9/11”… General Douglas MacArthur eloquently shared some meaningful words on May 12, 1962 at West Point: “…Duty, Honor, Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn…Unhappily, I possess neither that eloquence of diction, that poetry of imagination, nor that brilliance of metaphor to tell you all that they mean. The unbelievers will say they are but words, but a slogan, but a flamboyant phrase. Every pedant, every demagogue, every cynic, every hypocrite, every troublemaker, and I am sorry to say, some others of an entirely different character, will try to downgrade them even to the extent of mockery and ridicule. As I listened to those songs of the glee club, in memory's eye I could see those staggering columns of the First World War, bending under soggy packs, on many a weary march from dripping dusk to drizzling dawn, slogging ankle-deep through the mire of shell-shocked roads, to form grimly for the attack, blue-lipped, covered with sludge and mud, chilled by the wind and rain, driving home to their objective, and for many, to the judgment seat of God. I do not know the dignity of their birth, but I do know the glory of their death. They died unquestioning, uncomplaining, with faith in their hearts, and on their lips the hope that we would go on to victory. Always, for them: Duty, Honor, Country; always their blood and sweat and tears, as we sought the way and the light and the truth…”
War is a blight and tragedy upon our planet! Things get broken and destroyed; people get wounded, or captured, or tortured, or killed; families get separated; etc. A core value shared by Abraham Lincoln and later emblazoned on a US Army Poster during World War II was: “Right Is Might.” It is the commitment to that which is “Right” that needs to be Remembered and serve as our motivation. Righteousness exalts a nation… The prayers of a Righteous man avail much… As Joshua prepared the nation for his departure, he shares a basic premise for them to remember (Joshua 24:13-17): “…fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord…” The Nation of Israel had fought many battles and the Lord granted them victory and gave them The Promised Land as their possession. They needed to Remember that it was the Lord Who delivered them and granted them victory. As we pause to Remember those who were killed while protecting and defending our nation against all enemies – foreign and domestic – we need to also Remember that The Lord is our Fortress, Strength and Shield! Try To Remember…!!
1 comment:
Oooo....Columbus, MS will be mad at you...they claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day...in fact they have 2 historic markers stating that fact - one at the house where the ladies gathered and came up with the idea and one at the cemetary where the first memorial day (although I believe they called it decoration day or something like that) was held. The ladies wanted to honor the confederate dead and while they were at the cemetary decided to honor the union dead as well. The practice spread and evolved into memorial day.
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