Looking Forward
Memorial Day was first enacted in 1868 to remember the fallen Union soldiers of the civil war, although it was probably built upon practices already held in various areas around the country. The first documented communal remembrance after the civil war was a cemetery built by freed slaves in 1865 on the site of a former confederate prison camp in Charleston, SC, where union soldiers had been buried in a mass grave. The former slaves re-interred the bodies into their own individual graves, fenced the area, and posted an arched sign declaring the site a Union graveyard.
After World War II the holiday was expanded to the memory of all those United States men and women who had given their lives in war. In its earliest days the holiday was mostly called Decoration Day and on May 30th 1868, in keeping with the Memorial Day Order, those former slaves who had honored the Union dead by re-interring their bodies in Charleston, went back and decorated their graves with flowers they had picked from the countryside.
Honoring the dead is not about living in the past; rather it is about remembering what was so valuable that men and women were willing to lay down their lives for it. It is about gratitude for what we have received from their sacrifice. It reminds us of the cost that has been paid for our benefit. We honor their lives by not only remembering, but by living as stewards of what we have received.
In an even greater way, we also look forward from the cross to the lost world around us. We decorate the ugly place of death - the cross and the tomb – with our gratitude and praise. We remember and proclaim his death with a supper every Sunday. We draw inspiration and strength from the tragic moments of his death for our own transformation. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices so that his will may be accomplished through us. We remember while we look forward.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
What Mom Said
Dad often took the role of the enforcer in the home in which I grew up. He was the back-up whenever mom had a tough time getting us boys in line. I dreaded the words, “Go wait in your room till your father comes home.” It meant a long wait with a dismal end. I wanted all disciplinary issues to be settled by mom, if possible. So at that point there would be groveling and promises. Perhaps, if we hadn’t pushed things too far, she would accept our questionable penance.
It was always best just to obey mom. She was, of course, wiser than we thought. And she was always on our side – she believed in us (she still does) and enduringly sought the best for us. My mother used to tell me, “You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.” She absolutely believed it. I didn’t know she really meant it; I thought it was just one of those things that parents are obligated to tell their children. I didn’t understand the wisdom she was trying to impart, the confidence she felt for us, her hopes for our future. I was just a kid, after all. But I soaked it in through her repetition and eventually it came to have meaning that shapes me.
It means, “I believe in you.” Whatever foolishness I may have gotten into; whatever failure, or even success I may have experienced, that was not going to define her complete vision for my life. There was more ahead: more achievement, more joy, more success, more inside that can be tapped for the future. Children need to hear that their mother believes in them.
It means, “Focus on what is important.” Put yourself to what is worth accomplishing in school, in friendships, in life. Move the distractions to the sidelines and the bleachers and let the important stuff keep your attention.
It means, “You get to choose whether or not the world around you is a better place.” It is optimism, soaked in reality. You make the difference whether good things happen; life doesn’t just happen to you. Sure some things will be beyond your control and sometimes you are just blindsided by circumstances, but even then, you can change things.
That's what mom meant when she said, "You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it." Her words continue to shape my life. Thank for believing in us, mom. Your blessing makes a difference in the course of our lives.
Dad often took the role of the enforcer in the home in which I grew up. He was the back-up whenever mom had a tough time getting us boys in line. I dreaded the words, “Go wait in your room till your father comes home.” It meant a long wait with a dismal end. I wanted all disciplinary issues to be settled by mom, if possible. So at that point there would be groveling and promises. Perhaps, if we hadn’t pushed things too far, she would accept our questionable penance.
It was always best just to obey mom. She was, of course, wiser than we thought. And she was always on our side – she believed in us (she still does) and enduringly sought the best for us. My mother used to tell me, “You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it.” She absolutely believed it. I didn’t know she really meant it; I thought it was just one of those things that parents are obligated to tell their children. I didn’t understand the wisdom she was trying to impart, the confidence she felt for us, her hopes for our future. I was just a kid, after all. But I soaked it in through her repetition and eventually it came to have meaning that shapes me.
It means, “I believe in you.” Whatever foolishness I may have gotten into; whatever failure, or even success I may have experienced, that was not going to define her complete vision for my life. There was more ahead: more achievement, more joy, more success, more inside that can be tapped for the future. Children need to hear that their mother believes in them.
It means, “Focus on what is important.” Put yourself to what is worth accomplishing in school, in friendships, in life. Move the distractions to the sidelines and the bleachers and let the important stuff keep your attention.
It means, “You get to choose whether or not the world around you is a better place.” It is optimism, soaked in reality. You make the difference whether good things happen; life doesn’t just happen to you. Sure some things will be beyond your control and sometimes you are just blindsided by circumstances, but even then, you can change things.
That's what mom meant when she said, "You can do anything you want, if you put your mind to it." Her words continue to shape my life. Thank for believing in us, mom. Your blessing makes a difference in the course of our lives.
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