Memorial Day: A Time for Reverence

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Roman 12:15

At cemeteries and monuments across the nation,  small flags flutter by military graves-makers for those who fought valiantly for a cause they believed in. Although Memorial Day honors those who gave their lives, we are encouraged to be mindful of the soldiers who have returned as shadows battling addictions brought on by what they have seen or done. Involvement in such things is against one’s nature and against the teachings of the Lord. Imagine the moral and emotional battle taken place in the minds of our brave soliders. They are not in a position to question, only to obey those in charge with the hope and belief that liberty and justice is being served. They walk among us, hurting and forever changed.

People who gave their lives in service to our country are the reason for Memorial Day–even as we look forward to cookouts, beach towels strewn on lawns and laughing children. Memorial Day is a time to enjoy our lives protected by those who have fought and still fight honorably. We cherish the lives of the “Home of the Brave.”

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!