“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” ~ John 15:13
Happy Memorial Day! Amidst the backyard barbeques and gatherings with friends and family, may we pause, today, to remember the millions who gave their lives for our freedom. May we honor their sacrifices and the sacrifices of their families.
Why do we celebrate Memorial Day?
While Veteran’s Day (November 11) celebrates all who have served/are serving in the Armed Forces, Memorial Day (the last Monday of May) specifically commemorates those who have died while serving in the military.
Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day and honored those who died while fighting in the Civil War. According to History.com, the Civil War “claimed more lives than any conflict in U.S. history and required the establishment of the country’s first national cemeteries.” After World War I, however, the holiday became a day to remember veterans who died in all wars.
Many commemorate Memorial Day by visiting cemeteries and memorials and wearing a red poppy to honor the fallen. The symbolic red poppy was born out of the poem, “In Flanders Fields,” written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, a Canadian who served as a brigade surgeon for an Allied artillery unit in WWI.
Remembering our veterans:
I am a country music lover, and one of my favorite songs to listen to on Memorial Day is “Arlington” by Trace Adkins. This song always touches my heart and gives me chills. If you are looking for a good way to honor and remember those who have died while fighting for our nation, consider listening to this song and offering up a prayer for the families of those who lost their loved ones in war.
A final reflection:
It’s often easy, for me at least, to take for granted the fact that I can wake up each morning in this free country, drink a cup of coffee, and go about my day. Because of men like my grandfathers and so many other brave men and women who came before me and put their lives on the line, I can live freely, go to school, worship my God without fear of persecution, and hope for a future.
Memorial Day is a day to celebrate these good gifts and honor those who showed the greatest form of love by laying down their lives for us. The sacrifices of our veterans are a beautiful reflection of The One, who laid down His life for us on the cross that we might be set free from sin and death.
While news stations, today, often draw our attention to all that our nation and world have to mourn over—and there is, indeed, much to lament—may we never forget all the many blessings we have to be grateful for and the high price so many paid to attain those blessings for us.