Stress, change, and troubles. The memes on Facebook discuss life's travails all the time. Struggle is inevitable; it's how you deal with it that makes all the difference.
Most of us want a smooth road to walk upon life's journey. I'd be lying if I told you otherwise. People need to agree with me all the time, starting with my husband and children; my body must cooperate and never get sick; and the world should drink Coke and live in perfect harmony...(Thank you William Backer, may you rest in peace).
I'd like to buy the world a home And furnish it with love Grow apple trees and honey bees And snow white turtle doves I'd like to teach the world to sing (Sing with me) In perfect harmony (Perfect harmony) I'd like to buy the world a Coke And keep it company (That's the real thing) I'd like to teach the world to sing (What the world wants today) In perfect harmony (Perfect harmony) And I'd like to buy the world a Coke And keep it company (It's the real thing) I'd like to buy the world a coke (Coke is what the world wants today) And keep it company (Coca-Cola) (It's the real thing) I'd like to buy the world a coke (Coke is what the world wants today) (From International Lyrics Playground).
The song's a bit maudlin (and of course, trying to sell Coke), but it started the synapses firing: peace, Memorial Day, fallen soldiers, and what the world needs (as opposed to what the world wants).
What is peace? Freedom from disturbance or freedom from war. Is peace good or is it bad? You might guess peace is bad because it seems like we lean more toward making war than peace, even though the effects of war on humanity are akin to the effects of cyanide to the human body.
But peace at all costs is not really peace either. A family unwilling to deal with a problem just to maintain peace will either unwind itself or never grow to its full potential of complete love and life. A country unwilling to stand up against an evil dictator will eventually fall to that dictator.
Peace, it's a complicated thing.
Our soldiers, however, are flesh and blood human beings with the same hopes and dreams we all have. Through war many of these dreams are crushed forever. Yes, civilians too have their dreams crushed, but our men and women in the United States Armed Forces made a conscious sacrifice to fight and protect our country (we can debate about all the conflicts later). What does it mean to be transported to another country, one in battle, away from the comforts of home and from friends and family? What does it mean to put your life in harm's way to save others' freedoms and liberties?
This weekend I'm going to try to set aside my whining and complaining as I think of all the men and women who have fallen, all who have served our country, and all that are still serving. Memorial Day is the official "kick-off" to summer, but it's really about visiting the cemeteries of our veterans, attending parades (without the candy), and offering some small homage to these men and women.
Who could say it better than Abraham Lincoln?
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. Abraham Lincoln, November 19, 1863 (From Abraham Lincoln Online).
Finally, what does the world need? Peace, of course. As a spiritual woman I know that peace can only come from one source - God. Indeed, many "spiritual" people have used their "faith" to kill and start wars. I can't give you a plausible reason for this or even an excuse. Suffice it to say that despite our faith, we're still sinners and do many things offensive to God.
You might say then, that God's greatest attribute is his mercy:
compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence (From Dictionary dot com).Mercy, then, is the road to peace. This weekend, let's try a little mercy on our families, friends, neighbors, city officials, and world. Mercy will help us all to sing in perfect harmony.
-----
Please go to Homes for Our Troops if you wish to donate in helping build homes for our veterans.
Comments
Post a Comment