The commercial blitz is on and I am amazed at what we are turning this weekend in to. This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. How are we celebrating it? With many different kinds of sales, cookouts, holiday from work and school, and thinking of summer. I am sure that many people don't even know the meaning behind this holiday.
It was first commemorated to honor the civil war dead in cemeteries all over the country and it was called Decoration Day. In 1966, it became a national holiday to remember all those who paid the ultimate price for freedom here and around the world. President LBJ renamed it Memorial Day. He designated it to be on the last Monday in May every year. Here is a quote about how this day should be remembered by the 1st man, General John Logan, to honor the dead in America:
Gen. Logan's order for his posts to decorate graves in 1868 "with the choicest flowers of springtime" urged: "We should guard their graves with sacred vigilance. ... Let pleasant paths invite the coming and going of reverent visitors and fond mourners. Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people the cost of a free and undivided republic."
I believe that we are in a generation that Logan spoke of in the quote as those who have forgotten. The last of the WWII soldiers are dying. People never have cared for Vietnam soldiers. They were spit upon when they came home and consequently neglected. Who knows what will happen to those fighting today? We are such a society of peaceniks who don't realize that sometimes peace comes from strength and that strength comes at the end of a rifle. Look at Hitler and the Japanese. They weren't going to stop with peace talks and summits. It took bombs, bullets, & brutality for it to sink into their heads.
So while you are eating your burger and spending time with your family or finding the best deals and SuperMart, remember who it was that made this day possible. For without those who sacrificed everything, we would have nothing. Also, remember God and His mercy. Without Him, nothing is possible!
