Memorial Day

Pause to remember. Take a moment and say a prayer of thanks for those who have given so much to so many in the name of freedom. Today I wonder what they are thinking as they remember the years spent away from home in the arms of terror, as they remember those who were lost, as they remember their homecomings and how they were accepted or rejected upon their return. I want to hug a veteran today. I want to tell him or her that I have no idea what they went through but I am so grateful for their heart and their courage that led them to give up their own home, their own families and bravely do whatever it took to secure our freedom. Deep inside me something cries out for peace. Surely this cry abides within each of us. Surely we are all alike.

I read a poem the other day by Rachel Corrie from a book her family has put together of her writings and drawings called, "Let Me Stand Alone". She died at the age of 23as she tried to block the deomolition of a Palestinian family's home in the Gaza Strip. In the poem she states, "We have got to understand that they are us. We are them." She was writing in regard to those who are starving all over the world. She wrote this when she was 10 years old. Today as I think about where we've been and where we are and where we might be going, this one line resonates within my heart. Could it be that we all deeply long for peace? War and Peace. What a dichotomy. Does the end justify the means? I'm not saying war is wrong. I'm not saying war is right. I'm just posing questions that make me long for home, my real home, and I pray one more time: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven..."