The solemnity of the occasion slaughtered any thoughts that I’d rather be playing. It drowned out the heat and how uncomfortable I felt in my Girl Scout uniform. As a ten year old child, I felt, probably for the first time in my life, patriotic. It infuses me to this day. On future Memorial Days, I silently thank my Girl Scout leader who took a small group of us to a local cemetery for their Memorial Day observance.
The ceremony touched me so deeply its memory has not faded. I can still hear the chaplain’s voice proclaiming because of these brave men, we were free. Free to disagree with the government, free from tyranny, and probably more important to a ten year old, free to fulfill our dreams by growing up to be who ever we wanted to be.
I remember looking up into the trees to see the sunlight’s glint dancing through the leaves. At the same time, I wondered what it was like to pack your belongings into a canvas bag leaving behind family and friends to go fight a war. Then never coming back to realize your life’s dreams.
Mostly I recall taking note of the soldiers’ pride and sense of duty in honoring their fallen comrades. Taps played mournfully in the background. This was followed by the traditional 21-gun salute. Thundering, poignant and sad. Then silence. I’ll never know what everyone else was thinking during that silence, but I was lost in the thought of how truly precious life really is. Which to this day, is amazing to me because as a fifth grader, you are filled with tangled emotions and life seems so complicated. Thinking about life and death seems so out of character for someone so young.
But later, when I became a Christian, I learned my thoughts that day echoed how God feels. Life is so very precious. And I no longer need a 21-gun salute to awaken that thought in me. There are pages upon pages of places where the Bible says this is true:
{Psalm 103:11} You’re loved more than you know, more than you see, more than you’ve even dared to dream.
{Jeremiah 29:11} No matter how it may feel, you’ve got a purpose and God’s got a plan.
{Genesis 1:31} We only get one YOU and what you have to offer the world is good.
{Romans 8:28} Whatever has happened this week, it’s going to be okay and you are too.
So as you go about celebrating your Memorial Day with a barbeque, parade or family dinner, listen hard to what your heart is saying about those who made the ultimate sacrifice. Take a moment and thank God for their sacrifice and for our country.