When Moses bid farewell to the Children of Israel as they entered the Promised Land after wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, he reminded them of the importance to purposefully choose to remember their rightful dependency upon God. In so doing, he warned them about pride and self-sufficiency when they reach the promised land.
His wise counsel is recorded in Deuteronomy 8: 7-18: "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, flowing out in the valleys and hills, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey, a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing, a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you can dig copper. And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.
“Take care lest you forget the Lord your God by not keeping his commandments and his rules and his statutes, which I command you today, lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day".
Would to God that we understood the importance of memory and the recognition that God is the source of all the blessings we enjoy. Psalms 67:7 states: "God is the source of our blessings; may every corner of the earth respect and revere Him".
As a nation, in our Pledge of Allegiance, we refer to America as being one nation under God, but in today's world, for most, those words no longer carry the ring of truth. The most recent Gallup Poll indicated only 47% of people in this country claim any kind of church affiliation. At best, as a nation, we only marginally pay lip service to God's purposes in our life.
We sing: "God bless America, Land that I love, Stand beside her, and guide her through the night with the light from above". It is a precious and life-giving concept, but other than articulating the words occasionally expressed through song, the concept sadly falls short of the marching orders by which most people in our nation live.
These words of Jesus are chronicled in John 15: 12-13: 1 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends".
The purpose of Memorial Day traces its roots back to the Civil War and the wars that followed. There was a time in our nation where we purposefully paid tribute to and remembered those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we hold dear.
In the economy of today's world, at most, reflecting and remembering is an occasional thought at best. To counter the casual and mostly non-existent place that Memorial Day has come to hold in American life, Congress passed the National Moment of Remembrance Act in December 2000 and it was signed into law.
As described in the legislation, the purpose of the act was to ensure the sacrifices of America’s fallen heroes are never forgotten. It is a lofty goal. For me to suggest that the legislation is a very lame approach, simply highlights that I am opinionated and probably should keep my thought to myself.
The National Moment of Remembrance Act encourages all Americans to pause wherever they are at 3:00 p.m. (local time) on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who have died in service to the nation. The legislator who authored the legislation stated: It is one way we can all help put the memorial back in Memorial Day. Personally, I think it is a pretty shallow approach.
All My Best!
Don