Remember & Honor

This coming Monday, we will celebrate Memorial Day. It is a day that we as a nation have set apart to remember and honor our fallen soldiers. Although we appreciate our current troops, love our veterans (whom we recognize on Veteran’s Day), and miss those veterans who are no longer with us (e.g., my father and uncles), this day has a very specific purpose to it: It is a day to remember and honor those who gave their lives while in service to our nation, often laying down their lives in the midst of heated battle. 

Unfortunately, few people will stop and consider the price that has been paid for the freedoms we enjoy as citizens of this great nation. Instead, Memorial Day has become the unofficial start to summer. It is a weekend for BBQ’s, gatherings with friends and family, and maybe a trip to the beach. And, it’s a weekend that retailers use to boost their sales, seeking to draw us in with their sale signs, seeking to get us to buy everything from furniture to grills to cars. Few people will stop to remember the men and women who have served us to the point of laying down their lives. 

In the poem, “For the Fallen,” Laurence Binyon penned these lines: 

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncountered:
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning.  

We will remember them.                                                                                      

As I read that final line, “We will remember them,” I asked myself, will we? Will we take time to remember and give thanks for those who paid the price for the sake of our nation and the freedoms we enjoy? 

The Apostle Paul wrote, “Give to everyone what you owe them…if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” (Romans 13:7 – NIV)  Let’s apply those words this weekend to our fallen soldiers as we remember and honor them for their service to us. 

Have a great day! 

- Pastor Tim Harris