Please understand…
Absolutely no disrespect is intended, but I think we need to rethink Memorial Day.
This morning, in the small town in Vermont where we have a home, my wife and I stood along Main Street to watch the Memorial Day parade – a small group of veterans carrying flags and fake guns, the high school marching band, several cars and a number of fire trucks from both the local and neighboring communities. Then, along with many from the community, we gathered around the gazebo at a local park to listen to readings and prayers and remarks honoring the day. I have been a part of many Memorial Day celebrations, often being one of the people asked to speak or pray, but this ceremony had a different feel maybe because, at least in recent years, most in our armed forces come from communities just like this.
But I walked away uneasy.
War is hell…literally.
And, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters who don’t come home leave a trail of broken hearts and lives that never completely heal.
Too easily on days like this…
And celebrations like this…
The parades we attend and the language we use, while making reference to those who have died, tends to glorify war. Maybe we do so as a defense against how awful, Awful AWFUL war really is.
As I said…
I think we need to rethink what how we honor this day.
Instead of parades and bunting and bands, I think we should walk quietly through a cemetery and notice the flags and remember those who died and those whose lives were shattered by whatever war we remember and think about what we can do to build peace and to lessen the chance of the next war even happening.
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