Memorial Day
MEMORIAL DAY INVOCATION
It has been said that one of the distinguishing marks of our humanity, a trait that makes us different from other species and animals that fill our world, is that God gave human beings the ability to remember. We remember not just events, moments and experiences of our lives but we can share in the collective memory of a family, community, village, state, nation and culture.
But we can also forget. We can forget to remember.
We can forget to remember the more than 40 million Americans who have served their nation and more than one million who have died.
We can forget to remember those who stood at a Concord bridge and those who struggled to survive in the winter cold at Valley Forge.
We can forget to remember the litany of conflicts that secured our nation's borders and established a right to sail the seven seas.
We can forget to remember the strife of civil war and the quest of a nation to redefine freedom for all races.
We can forget to remember the terror of trenches and the deadly gases that called the world to war a first time.
We can forget to remember the meaning of a total national commitment to defeat threatening powers of global domination in a second war to end all wars.
We can forget to remember the sacrifice of those who took arms to hold the line in conflict after conflict preserving world order and creating opportunities for peoples around the world to know new freedoms.
We can even forget to remember that each generation must have those who will stand to preserve the beacon of justice and truth that we have come to believe is God's gift not just to America but for all people.
It is so easy to forget, which is why we gather this day.
We gather not to celebrate wars or the power of might but to remember the lessons learned by the sacrifice of lives given in service to ideals greater than personal gain or reputation.
We gather today to remember not only those whom we can name in our hearts but also those who are unknown to us except as revealed in the freedoms that they preserved through the sacrifice of their lives.
This Memorial Day we remember. We remember that we gather as our congress and President have decreed for over 50 years, to pray for a permanent peace.
To pray that God will bless the memories of those who served and guide us in remembering the blessing of grace revealed in the words, "Peace be with you".
MEMORIAL DAY BENEDICTION
Let us pray.
Creator God, source of all light and life, we come before you this day striving to hold fast to the memory of those who have gone before us. We would honor not only their memory but their hopes and their dreams. We remember the soldiers of other times and places who gave of themselves in service to the causes of justice, freedom and life itself. We remember the transforming power of your peace visited upon your people that turned a nation divided by war into a people striving to put an end to wars; that transformed enemies of our nation into allies building economies and cultures; that turned ordinary volunteers into heroes of valor and truth. Let us not forget this day that the end we serve is not of our making but directed by your divine providence. Preserve and protect all who stand in defense of your just cause, all who serve to build up and bring life. We remember, O God, that you are the source of all peace and for this we pray.
Amen