I have failed you dear reader. I did not put a post for everyday up on the FaceBook page. I don’t think I am going to do that anyway, because I feel that blogs themselves are somewhat self-serving and to make a daily entry AND a post on the page would be a bit too much tooting my own horn type of thing. But, I do plan on continuing this blog for some time and I hope that if you enjoy it to bookmark it or follow it somehow and give me feedback, ‘cause that’s what it’s all about-ya know?
Today is Memorial Day (actually as of the posting of this it WAS Memorial Day). A day to fire up the grill, hit the lake, and have a Monday the way that it was intended-no work. No, no, dear reader I know what today means and what it stands for. I did find this particularly interesting on Wikipedia about the interpretation of Memorial Day:
“Scholars,[37][38][39][40] following the lead of sociologist Robert Bellah, often make the argument that the United States has a secular "civil religion" - one with no association with any religious denomination or viewpoint - that has incorporated Memorial Day as a sacred event. The obligation of both collective and individual to carry out God's will on earth is a theme that lies deep in the American tradition. With the Civil War, a new theme of death, sacrifice and rebirth enters the civil religion. Memorial Day gave ritual expression to these themes, integrating the local community into a sense of nationalism. The American civil religion, in contrast to that of France, was never anticlerical or militantly secular; in contrast to Britain, it was not tied to a specific denomination, such as the Church of England. The Americans borrowed from different religious traditions so that the average American saw no conflict between the two, and deep levels of personal motivation were aligned with attaining national goals.[41]”
One of the many things that I enjoyed doing with the Cub Scouts as a leader was helping the veterans put out and take up the flags at the cemetery. It gave us a chance to talk about how young some of the men and women were who gave their lives for our country. We would ask the boys if they would be willing to do so if they were ever called upon and while we were at the cabin they would all say yes, but when we were placing the flags and assisting with the ceremony- the answers were a little different. A lot of I don’t know or maybe’s were given, a few still stood by their initial answer of yes. Of course, the boys were all in full uniform, and seeing various military officials in their uniforms would make them feel a bit more pride when they would tighten their neckerchief slide.
Another thing that we (Greg Sinclair-great guy-if you don’t know him, meet him-also a good, trusted friend) would do was on Veteran’s Day, have the boys take coins or pins that said “Thank You For Your Service” to the veterans in the area’s nursing homes. It was a special moment for the boys and especially the veterans. Many times the veterans would show pictures and tell some stories about their time serving our country. Last year, there were a few tears shed out of thankfulness of what the boys did. We would also drill the boys over and over in the proper way to conduct a flag ceremony, how to carry, fold, raise and lower a flag, and how flags are destroyed and why.
Respect and honor of our history and flag is what Greg and I were looking for by doing these things with the boys. Hopefully, it will stick with them, I know it meant a lot to me and to many veterans in Kingfisher county.
I tried to enlist a few months before the first Gulf Conflict but didn’t pass the health aspect of it. I could play professional baseball, but couldn’t cut the mustard when it came to the USMC. Then again, look at some of the guys who played in the bigs like John Kruk, Babe Ruth or Cecil Fielder. To this day, I still wish I could have served in some way or another and feel regret, I truly admire what our past and present servicemen and women have done for our country and intend to pass that feeling to my boys but, of course, let them make their own decision about whether or not they want to serve. I have a “nephew” at West Point currently. It’s interesting to see how he is changing, becoming more of a man-a soldier. You can see it in how he carries himself, how he talks to you, what he says- he’s becoming an even more impressive young man than what he was before. I don’t think I’m going to be getting anymore late night calls from him saying that he has a loose tooth and is needing advice on the whole tooth pulling process any longer though.
So for me, Memorial Day is a time to reflect. A time to try to imagine what was and is going through the minds of those in harm’s way defending our country. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 says:
“There is a time for everything, and everything on earth has its special season. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to pull up plants. There is a time to kill and a time to heal. There is a time to destroy and a time to build. There is a time to cry and a time to laugh. There is a time to be sad and a time to dance. There is a time to throw away stones and a time to gather them. There is a time to hug and a time not to hug. There is a time to look for something and a time to stop looking for it. There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away. There is a time to tear apart and a time to sew together. There is a time to be silent and a time to speak. There is a time to love and a time to hate. There is a time for war and a time for peace.”
Verses 14-15 in the same book and chapter say, “I know that everything God does will continue forever. People cannot add anything to what God has done, and they cannot take anything away from it. God does it this way to make people respect him. What happens now has happened in the past, and what will happen in the future has happened before. God makes the same things happen again and again.”
Now I think my translation may be off a bit here, I am currently using the New Century Version, so the flow and words are a bit different than what we (at least I am) are used to but I think the last two verses tell us that God has a plan for us. We don’t have to look too hard to see that history does repeat itself. As Christians, we know God’s hand is in every aspect of our lives and because of that we fear-respect-Him because of it. We also see that we are to take time for things in our lives that deserve it, through the Word and prayer are we to learn when we are to do so.
In closing, I would just like to emphasize two words from this post- Honor and Respect. Honor and Respect those who have sacrificed and continue to sacrifice themselves in the name of our country.
Honor and Respect our God, his Son, and the Holy Spirit for without all their gifts, where would we be? We all have so many things to be thankful for, today is a day to take the time to thank those that truly deserve it.
Amen and Peace be with you all.
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