This weekend we step
into a seasonal rhythm. Bicycles are taken down and prepared for the
Summer, grills are cleaned off and put to work, lawn furniture is wiped clean
and set out, flowers are planted. Some of us are looking forward to the
first trip around the lake on skis. Tens of thousands will be at the
speedway in Indy this weekend.
You and I both know this, but Memorial Day Weekend is about more than a day off from work or the first big family barbecue of the season. It is a moment when we give thanks for those who sacrificed so we might be free and the world might be more just.
Several times I have had the opportunity to walk the ground where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought. As you walk the fields across which those men fought so long ago you realize how precious are our freedom and our unity. The ground across which Pickett’s men charged towards Cemetery Ridge slopes up gently.
Those who by their rhetoric and politics would separate us into Red and Blue nations should walk that ground. The blood shed on that soil testifies to our unity. We are one nation… undivided. This essential unity, this freedom we have to live, and work, and worship, and speak, is a gift that has been given to us at a great cost. That conflict was our way of deciding we would do life together: all regions, all economic groups, men and women, black and white, Catholics, Jews and Protestants.
The freedom we have, scripture says, is much more than the freedom to grab what we can for ourselves, but it is a freedom to serve, to build up, to share. Freedom can become destructive selfishness if it is not shaped by a commitment to the common good.
Some of you have walked the fields of Normandy or North Africa. You have realized how much was given by men and women in far away places to defeat the hate-fueled madness of Nazi Germany and its allies.
After having been at war in distant places for more than a decade our nation is beginning to turn its attention to the needs in the areas of education, neighborhood revitalization, healthcare, etc. On this Memorial Day Weekend, though, we understand this is about much more than an extra day off work or a family barbecue.
Walk the fields. You’ll realize we have been given a precious gift by brave men and women. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Join me in giving thanks, won’t you? Join me in walking the field and remembering. Let us be faithful custodians of what we have been given as a nation. God help us to use our freedom responsibly so we build a better future for all. God keep us from saying or doing anything to tear apart the unity that makes us one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all!
You and I both know this, but Memorial Day Weekend is about more than a day off from work or the first big family barbecue of the season. It is a moment when we give thanks for those who sacrificed so we might be free and the world might be more just.
Several times I have had the opportunity to walk the ground where the Battle of Gettysburg was fought. As you walk the fields across which those men fought so long ago you realize how precious are our freedom and our unity. The ground across which Pickett’s men charged towards Cemetery Ridge slopes up gently.
Those who by their rhetoric and politics would separate us into Red and Blue nations should walk that ground. The blood shed on that soil testifies to our unity. We are one nation… undivided. This essential unity, this freedom we have to live, and work, and worship, and speak, is a gift that has been given to us at a great cost. That conflict was our way of deciding we would do life together: all regions, all economic groups, men and women, black and white, Catholics, Jews and Protestants.
The freedom we have, scripture says, is much more than the freedom to grab what we can for ourselves, but it is a freedom to serve, to build up, to share. Freedom can become destructive selfishness if it is not shaped by a commitment to the common good.
Some of you have walked the fields of Normandy or North Africa. You have realized how much was given by men and women in far away places to defeat the hate-fueled madness of Nazi Germany and its allies.
After having been at war in distant places for more than a decade our nation is beginning to turn its attention to the needs in the areas of education, neighborhood revitalization, healthcare, etc. On this Memorial Day Weekend, though, we understand this is about much more than an extra day off work or a family barbecue.
Walk the fields. You’ll realize we have been given a precious gift by brave men and women. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Join me in giving thanks, won’t you? Join me in walking the field and remembering. Let us be faithful custodians of what we have been given as a nation. God help us to use our freedom responsibly so we build a better future for all. God keep us from saying or doing anything to tear apart the unity that makes us one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all!
Mark
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