Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Psalm 34: 18 (NASB)“Day is done, gone the sun, From the hills, from the lake, from the skies.
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh…
Thanks and praise, for our days, ‘Neath the sun, ‘Neath the stars, ‘Neath the sky.
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.”
“TAPS”—Unofficial lyrics with the 24 notes of “TAPS.”
The morning breeze was soft and cool as I posted our American flag in its place of honor this morning.
Memorial Day. An emotional day.
Many of us find it hard to talk about and express what we are feeling while emotions pour forth from the past as we reflect on the lives we pause to honor today.
American heroes.
Are we worthy of what they did for you and for me?
As we sit here this morning in peace eating breakfast, we give thanks for the lives of those who made the ultimate sacrifice. That on this Memorial Day and every day, we would never forget the sacrifice of their lives given so that we might live today in the security and peace we enjoy.
Are we worthy of the lives they gave for you and for me?
Tears choke in my throat and fill my eyes with sadness, pride, and gratitude, when I tell my granddaughters about those we honor today.
I want them and children in every generation to know, respect and never forget the service and sacrifice of those who stand in the gap for us today, and especially of those heroes whose blood was spilled forming the foundation of freedom we have today.
American heroes.
Are we worthy of their lives, and what they did for you and for me?
So many, for so long, have paid the price for us, beginning at Bunker Hill and Lexington and Concord and down through Valley Forge. They made the first payment for us. And that payment has been kept up-to-date through the Argonne, Normandy, Iwo Jima, Tarawa, and Pork Chop Hill, and across a thousand hills in Southeast Asia and the burning sands of the Persian Gulf and Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan.
American heroes. They paid the price for us.
And on days like today, we need to be reminded of that heritage. Some never came back, others came back on stretchers, or on crutches, in wheelchairs, and in boxes, while still others were spit upon and ridiculed. Heroes forever scarred—physically, mentally, emotionally—and those whose bodies lie beneath row after row after row of white crosses at the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery and thousands of cemeteries across this country and world—heroes who fought and died, so that we might live and sit here today in freedom.
American heroes. Are we worthy?
We see what is happening in various parts of our Country—with a lack of direction, loss of pride in our heritage, a loss of vision of what this Nation was meant to be and can be, and a loss of faith in God.
And you wonder whether those American heroes who we honor today, would be asking whether it was worth it to have given up their tomorrows so that we could live in freedom today. Was it worth it to storm Tarawa and lose a leg there? Was it worth it to storm Iwo Jima, or fight in Vietnam and lose a buddy there? Was it worth it to fight blinding sandstorms to liberate a people from fear, mutilation, and death?
And on days like today, we must make the answer—
Yes, by God, it was worth it, and we shall never forget the price you paid for us.
For you see, liberty may be a heritage, as my granddaughters, and men, women and children around our country enjoy—but it is never a gift.
It has been paid for at a great price.
America will stand as a place of liberty and equality, justice and freedom, only as long as there are men and women, children and young people—generation after generation—who resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, and who themselves are willing to pay the price and stand up for America.
American heroes. They paid the price for us.
May our lives, and our efforts, be worthy of the honor and sacrifice of their lives.
Memorial Day. May God continue to bless America.
In His Name–Scott
Quiet yourself in a patriotic, reverent moment of gratitude, and listen to this brief presentation of “TAPS” by the Tomb Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery.
PS. “TAPS” originated from a bugle call re-worked in July 1862 after a Civil War battle at Harrison’s Landing near Richmond. TAPS was officially recognized in 1874 by the US Army, and played at military funerals beginning in 1891.
