Today is a day we set aside to remember the sacrifice American soldiers made in the defense of our Nation. Some of the wars we engaged in caused huge divisions in our society; others had our Nation realizing that we had no other options. War is brutal, in fact, as General Sherman remarked in 1864, war is hell.
Nations have lost millions fighting in wars of all sorts, many of those going to their deaths believing that God was their side. Many of us still mourn the untimely deaths of people we knew who had fought in our wars. Arlington and the Vietnam Memorial remind us of the terrible cost of war.
We turn our memories into history, allowing us to interpret those memories to make them more palatable. But even as we try, we recognize that throughout history, powers and principalities have summoned people to war and destruction. While we remember the dead, we are called to work for a world where war and violence will cease.
Prayer for the Day
God of Memory, we often forget that we are your people,
Holding memories as possessions, we live with hardened hearts;
Soften our hearts so we forgive others as we have been forgiven.
Using memory as a gift of healing rather than a tool of anger.
When the strong winds of pain overwhelm us,
Pierce our hearts with your mercy and love,
In the name of the One who showed mercy to all, even those who hated him,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen
Thoughts for the Day
Memory is an absolute necessity for the existence of history (if we choose to forget about the past, to “move on,” history ceases to exist), but it is insufficient, limited, and particularistic.
- Nick Sacco, Social Studies teacher and public historian
In the midst of war and crisis nothing is as clear or as certain as it appears in hindsight.
- Barbara W. Tuchman, historian, from The Guns of August (1912-1989)
Many peoples shall come and say, “Come let us go the mountain of the Lord,
To the house of the God of Jacob to be taught God’s ways and walk in God’s paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
God shall judge between the nations and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and the spears into pruning hooks;
Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2: 3-4