The hill leading up to the old Custis-Lee Mansion and Arlington National Cemetery is visible from the D.C. side of the Potomac. As a child, my parents took me there to show the cost of sacrifice men and women had made to protect our freedom. And as an adult, I brought my children to see the Vietnam Wall, filled with the names of those who had died, including friends of mine from high school.
No matter what we thought of that war, the men and women who died were not “losers” but people who gave their lives in the service of our Nation. When I was in New Haven I worked with social service agencies to help heal survivors who were disabled in that terrible conflict that tore our country apart.
How dare a man who used bone spurs to avoid the draft use such language about people who have died, whether in battle or from the effects of war to describe people we all knew had made the ultimate sacrifice. How dare he.
Prayer for the Day
We know, O God, that we need to do more than just pray for peace,
For prophets and sages have told us the cost of peace is justice;
We hear your call telling us to create a just and equitable society,
But we are hesitant, not sure of the cost we might have to pay.
Enable us, O God, to respond to the cries we do not want to hear
And embolden us to work for a world of peace.
In the name of him who came to give us hope,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice cannot sleep forever...
- Thomas Jefferson, revolutionary, President (1743–1826)
Small use it will be to save democracy for the race if we cannot save the race for democracy.
- Jeanette Rankin, Pacifist, Member of Congress (1880–1973)
I will lead the blind by a road they do not know,
By paths, they have not known I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
The rough places before them into level ground.
These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them.
Isaiah 42:16