Some Reflections on Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day. As a child growing up the day meant two things: a picnic at my grandparents' farm and a visit to the cemetery to place flowers on the graves of people whom I had never met. I remember the brightly colored flags that draped the small driveways and the cheery peony bushes that dotted the landscape. I came to associate the peony as the cemetery flower. We especially took time before the graves of those who had fought either in World War I or II. To be brutally honest, as a child the picnic was much more exciting than the cemetery visit.

As a parent I can hardly remember taking my own children to the cemetery on Memorial Day. I am not sure exactly why I didn't. Perhaps it was because I had grown apathetic about those freedoms that I had come to take for granted. Perhaps it was because my generation had not been touched by a war that brought unity rather than riot. Perhaps it was because I had simply lost touch with my past.

I am nearing the completion of preaching a series through the book of Joshua. What God has shown me through my study is the value of remembering, the value of memorial stones. Throughout the book, Joshua and the people of Israel erect several memorial stones; some are to commemorate great victories, while others are reminders of the consequences of sin. These memorial stones literally dotted the landscape of the newly conquered Promised Land. Each stone had a story that needed to be retold to the next generation. It was as if God wanted His people to be connected to the past and its lessons.

One of the great failures of the Church today is to connect its people with the past. There are no memorial stones in today's Church. There are no cemeteries, if you will, where a person can wander and discover roots and stories and truths. We have failed to help believers to connect with men and women who gave their lives contending for the faith. We have very few heroes and heroines. We have become so absorbed with the present that we have lost touch with the past, resulting in a cloudy future.

So, this Memorial Day weekend I want to enjoy a picnic with family and friends. Perhaps I will spend some time enjoying the peony bushes in my yard and be reminded of days gone by. And, although I will probably not get to the cemetery where my Dad is buried or where my grandparents are buried, I want to pause for a few moments to remember their influence upon my life. I want to reconnect to the past so that I can have a better understanding of who I am.