Meme-ic Monday: Memorial Day

I don’t know much about my Grand-Uncle Russell. He died in WWII long before I was born.

I do know that he was adopted, meaning that he joined my great-grandparents’ family. There were no formal or legal proceedings, because that wasn’t the way things were done then. Not all the time, anyway.

I know what he looked like as I have a picture of his army unit, each head shot displayed separately and labeled with a name.

I know that after he died he was laid out in my great-grandparent’s living room. Decades later I would play and visit in that room. I know that his birth parents attended his wake and funeral.

I know that it was in his honor that the Gold Star hung in the house.

I don’t know much about my Grand-Uncle Russell, but I do know that he died in war and so we honor him on Memorial Day. I also know the truth of this meme:

and this one:

On Memorial Day and always, let us honor the Fallen.

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On Mondays, I will be posting and responding to memes, one each week. They will be ones that grab my attention, perhaps either resonate with me or annoy me. If you see a meme you would like me to react to, let me know.

Song for Sunday: America the Beautiful

A classic hymn, imbedded with prayers for the US, this song is perfect for the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. In fact, we sang it in church today. 

Most schoolchildren in the US can sing the first verse, but it was the other verses that struck me today. I especially noted the first two lines of verse three: "Oh, beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife, Who more than self their country loved, And mercy more than life!" A fitting reminder of the servicemen and women who paid the supreme sacrifice. I also love that this song acknowledges that America isn't perfect, and reminds us we are under a higher power. 

1. 1. Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,
   For amber waves of grain,
   For purple mountain majesties
   Above the fruited plain!
   America! America!
   God shed his grace on thee,
   And crown thy good with brotherhood
   From sea to shining sea.
2. 2. Oh, beautiful for pilgrim feet,
   Whose stern, impassioned stress
   A thoroughfare of freedom beat
   Across the wilderness!
   America! America!
   God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
   Confirm thy soul in self-control,
   Thy liberty in law.
3. 3. Oh, beautiful for heroes proved
   In liberating strife,
   Who more than self their country loved,
   And mercy more than life!
   America! America!
   May God thy gold refine,
   Till all success be nobleness,
   And ev'ry gain divine.
4. 4. Oh, beautiful for patriot dream
   That sees beyond the years
   Thine alabaster cities gleam,
   Undimmed by human tears!
   America! America!
   God shed his grace on thee,
   And crown thy good with brotherhood
   From sea to shining sea.
5. Text: Katherine Lee Bates, 1859-1929
   Music: Samuel A. Ward, 1848-1903
6. Public Domain.
7. Here's a link to a version by the Hillsdale College Choir.
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10. On this Memorial Day, however you celebrate it, honor the fallen.

Song for Sunday: Beauty for Brokenness

I have used this prayer for shalom or wholeness as a Song for Sunday before, but we sang it in church today and it grabbed my attention. God has been challenging me to remember, even identify with, the poor. This time around it is these lyrics that caught me:

Shelter for fragile lives 

Cures for their ills 

Work for the craftsman

Trade for their skills 

Land for the dispossessed

Rights for the weakVoices to plead the cause

Of those who can't speak

                                                 Graham Kendrick
                                                 Copyright © 1993 Make Way Music,
                                                www.grahamkendrick.co.uk

                                                          Graham Kendrick, author,  talking about this song. 


And a link to the song itself: 

What has God been calling your attention to lately?

How are you called to help the poor?

CYC (Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park) is a two week leadership development program for high school students. It meets August 2-15, 2015 on the beautiful southern coast of Maine and is open to all teens ages 14 and up who have completed at least eighth grade. Check it out!

Heroes: No Greater Love

Greater Love has no Man than this: that He Lay Down His Life for His Friends.

Sgt. 1st Class Danny Ferguson, Sgt. Timothy Owens, and Carlos Lazaney were already heroes when the woke up on Wednesday, April 2. They were members of the military, serving at a time when deployment to an area conflict was possible. They were heroes just for that.




But these three did not get to go to bed that night. They went instead, too soon, to the morgue.


They all died heroes, going about the business of defending their country, in a place that should have been safe.


Danny Ferguson died protecting others. He placed himself in front of unlockable door and held it shut. He died when bullets fired by the gunman penetrated the door. He saved a roomful of other military personnel. He gave his life for his friends.


I never met Danny, but his fiancé attended CYC, the ministry I volunteer with, several years ago as a camper. Though I haven't been in touch with Kristen really, except a little via Facebook, I still feel a connection through our camp sisterhood. My heart goes out to her and her family. I will be praying for her and for all the families as the memorial program happens today.


I pray for peace and comfort for the families. I pray for healing for the injured. I pray that our military bases will be safe places, that soldiers suffering from mental illness will get the help they need, that all mass shootings --all shootings-- will stop. I don't know what the answers are, I just pray.

God grant us peace -- all kinds of peace. 

Commemorations

It seems to me that commemorations are being forgotten, overall. This is just my sense, not an observation that I can back up with  scientific data.

Take today for example. We are meant to be remembering a great man and a major movement in U.S. history, but I have barely seen a nod to it. Just a couple of facebook statuses honoring Rev. King.

Sure the banks, schools and government offices are closed, but not much else.  I believe there were probably some services or ceremonies here and there, but not near my town. It is possible that some of the local schools held assemblies last week.  Sometimes I actually wonder if the holiday would be more celebrated if schools were open on it. Or maybe the Vets had the right idea. They resisted having Veteran's Day moved to the nearest Monday and asked that it remain on Nov. 11 every year. In part because of the significance of the "11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month", yes, but also to stop it becoming just another three day weekend holiday.

Usually on this holiday I read some excerpts from King's speeches with my son. He's off in Florida this year though, and I admit that all I did to commemorate the day was... post a Facebook status. *sigh* It really isn't enough. what King did was too important.

I will have to think on this and come up with a proper celebration next year. Any suggestions?

A Propitious Event

Next year marks the 200th anniversary of the sailing of the first missionaries from the U.S. to foriegn soil. They left from Salem, MA as Congregationalists and arrived in India as Baptists. Two of them, Adoniram Judson and Ann Hasseltine Judson went on to Burma.

What they accomplished there has made them folk heros to American Baptists. They were the first to bring the gospel to the Karen people. They translated the Bible. They overcame adversity with faith, persistence and ingenuity. That adversity included imprisonment in horrendous conditions, illness, the deaths of all their children and lengthy separations.

The verse that they chose to use as the text for their work was the Great Commission:

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:19-20

The ministry that I am a part of, Christian Youth Conference at Ocean Park, holds up Ann and Adoniram Judson as role models. Each year their stories are told -- Adoniram's in the men's camp (called Judson) and Ann's in the women's camp (called Hasseltine).


Next year the Baptists of the Adoniram Judson Association of the The American Baptist Churches of Massachusetts will host a number of activities is and around Salem, MA to commemorate the sailing and the start of U.S. based mission work. Hopefully, they will give glory to God and be an appropriate memorial to these early missionaries.

I Feel the Winds of God Today

This hymn has come to mind because of the death of an old friend. (His memorial concert is tonight.)  I love the words! They are quite invigorating to the soul.

I feel the winds of God today; today my sail I lift,
Though heavy, oft with drenching spray, and torn with many a rift;
If hope but light the water’s crest, and Christ my bark will use,
I’ll seek the seas at His behest, and brave another cruise.

It is the wind of God that dries my vain regretful tears,
Until with braver thoughts shall rise the purer, brighter years;
If cast on shores of selfish ease or pleasure I should be;
Lord, let me feel Thy freshening breeze, and I’ll put back to sea.

If ever I forget Thy love and how that love was shown,
Lift high the blood red flag above; it bears Thy Name alone.
Great Pilot of my onward way, Thou wilt not let me drift;
I feel the winds of God today, today my sail I lift.

(Words, Jesse Adams, 1906. Music, traditional English melody, In the public domain.)

Here's a link to the tune. It is reminiscent of a sea shanty.

Tune

In what ways are you feeling the winds of God today? In what ways do you need to?

Let's Roll!

"Are you guys ready?

Okay. Let's roll!"

                                ~Todd Beamer

Who were the heros of 9/11?

The ones who took action. The ones who did what they had to do. Or what they could do.

The firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers who went in while others were coming out -- and kept working long hours for days on end while mourning their friends.

The school teachers who walked kids to safety.

The chaplains, counselors and volunteers who went to help.

The neighbors who opened their doors.

The passengers on Flight 93 who stood up to their attackers so that, although they died, the plane didn 't reach it's target and no one on the ground was hurt.

Yes, the ones who did something. Whatever they could in their own set of circumstances.

Some we have heard of, some we honor. Others remain in obscurity, forgotten or never known.

We owe them all a debt.

We should follow their example.

They are the heroes.



What can you do? What will you do?