Many Americans have lost sight of the significance of Memorial Day. For them it has become a time to party—to celebrate something, anything. I spent 10 years of my life in the Navy serving my country—I look on it as the hardest 10 years of my life. Fortunately, I was never called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice that so many people have. Although I’m sure that most of these dear departed liked a good party as much as anyone else, it’s also important to remember why we’re taking a day off.
Our freedom cost many lives. In fact, our freedom is drenched in the blood of all of those who heeded their country’s call to duty. Memorial Day is a time to reflect on the extreme sacrifice of those who have fought and died to ensure that you can be safe in your bed each night, exercise control over your government, and choose to do things like protest an unpopular decision made by those in office. In fact, they died to ensure that you’d also have the choice to do absolutely nothing at all—yes, it’s a privilege to decide what to do and when to do it, even if that means doing nothing. During my time in the service, I saw how many people in the world live and I truly wouldn’t want to live like them. I consider America the greatest country in the world—God has truly blessed us.
I won’t deny that celebrating the lives of those who fought for our freedom is a good idea. However, take a few minutes to also think about the sacrifice these people have made on your behalf. If you see a service member, be sure to thank them for the time they spent serving your needs—usually in less than happy conditions. Memorial Day is much more than another holiday—it’s a time to reflect on just how good people have it in this country. Make your Memorial Day celebration special this year, take time to consider just how valuable your freedoms are and the price someone paid to get them. If you want some other ways to observe the holiday, check out How to Observe Memorial Day.
There won’t be a blog entry from me on Monday. Please come back starting on Tuesday for my regular blog entries.