Memorial Day With Pastor Leonard

Memorial Day

There are special days that we don’t want to miss. Days like Christmas, Easter, anniversaries and of course birthdays.  But sometimes as time passes we lose sight of what special days bring to our remembrance.  Of course, we probably won’t forget the meaning of Christmas or Easter or even our spouse’s birthday.  But sometimes in our country we celebrate the holidays while forgetting the real meaning behind the “long weekend”.

There are events that we should never forget. And I believe Memorial Day commemorates one of them.

We’ll get caught up in the “holiday” with fishing, cookout’s and myriad of other things and don’t even give one thought as to the “WHY” of the day we call Memorial Day.

This special day started near the end of the Civil War. And within a few years the practice of placing flowers on military graves had spread throughout both the north and south, and was being called by almost everyone, “Decoration Day.”

Then, after WWI it became a national holiday dedicated to remembering those who made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms that we enjoy.

But people tend to be forgetful, and we seem to need helps to jog our memories.

Thus, as we approach this Memorial Day, 2017, there are three things I would like to share to help us think about and remember.

First, America is “the land of the free, because of the brave”.  You probably read where someone said, “all gave some, but some gave all”.  No truer statement can be made concerning those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for these United States of America to be free today.

In all the American wars there have been 651,008 Battle Deaths; and about 1.2 million deaths during service in war time.  About 42 million people have served in the military during wartime.  Of those, 1/50th of the people serving during a time of war have died. (Stats via Internet)

READ THAT NUMBER REAL SLOW – 652,008 battle deaths.  Folks, who gave their all.

Secondly, STOP AND THINK!.  Stop and think of those veterans who gave their all.  WWI – 116,516; WWII – 405,399; Korean War – 54,246; Viet Nam – 90,220; Persian Gulf – 1, 656; Global War on Terror – 6852.  These are not just numbers:  these are OUR sons, daughters, husbands, wives, sisters, and brothers.  Families have been torn apart, devastated, and crushed.  Yet, they proudly lift up their family member as HEROS.  Those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to defend, protect and guard these United States of America.

Thirdly, I suggest, that we visit a military national cemetery.  Take a flower.  After all, it all started as Decoration Day.  Lay it on a grave.  Pause and REMEMBER the sacrifices of well over 650,000 who gave us the freedom to travel to that cemetery and to be able to place that flower.

ILLUSTRATION. A few years ago, a young & successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only 2 months old.

He was watching carefully for kids darting out from between parked cars & slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed that spot, no child darted out, but a brick flew out & – WHUMP! – it smashed into the Jag’s shiny side door.

SCREECH!!! He slammed on his brakes & his gears ground into reverse, tires spinning the Jaguar back to the spot where the brick had been thrown.

Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid & pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted, “Who are you? And what the heck are you doing?” Building up a head of steam, he went on. “That’s my new Jag, & the brick you threw is going to cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?”

“Please, mister, please…I’m sorry! I didn’t know what else to do! I threw the brick because no one would stop.” Tears were dripping down the boy’s chin as he pointed around the parked car.

“It’s my brother, mister,” he said. “He rolled off the curb & fell out of his wheelchair & I can’t lift him up.” Sobbing, the boy pled, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt & he’s too heavy for me.’

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair & took out his handkerchief & wiped the scrapes & cuts, checking to see that everything else was okay. He then walked with them to make sure that the younger brother was able to get them back home all right.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining 12-cylinder Jaguar XKE – a long & slow walk. Josh never did fix that side door. He kept the dent to remind himself not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention again.” -thank you to Pastor Melvin Newland for this illustration.

Dear friends, I pray that someone doesn’t have to throw a brick at us to get our attention as to the meaning of this day called, Memorial Day.  REMEMBER, “ALL GAVE SOME BUT SOME GAVE ALL” to them we owe the highest form of gratitude AND REMEMBRANCE to have a “land of the free, because of their bravery”.

Pastor Leonard Navarre

Navarre Christian Ministries

6715 92^nd St

Lubbock, TX 79424

—