Today is Memorial Day.Americans are charged with taking the time this day to remember the men and women of our armed forces who have died in pursuit of the American ideal of freedom.
It is a solemn day.
It is a day of patriotic remembrance and pride. We remember that many men and women have paid the ultimate price so that we may have the freedoms we daily take for granted. We participate in and attend parades and ceremonies of remembrance which honor these people and celebrate the values for which these brave Americans have fought and died.
I live in a lake community in a section of a very large town. Our town, Parsippany, begins its Memorial Day celebration at Veteran’s Park with a Memorial Day Ceremony of Remembrance. My community also holds a parade and ceremony on the Saturday before Memorial Day. At each, members of our armed forces speak to the courage and valor of those who have died, pleading with us not to forget these fallen champions of freedom.
The news has frequently reported in recent years that we are losing those who fought in World War II at an increasing rate. Their stories, and the stories of their comrades who fell on the battlefield, are being sought, so that we will remember, and never forget the price of freedom.
As I watched several of the older members of my community who have served in our armed forces this weekend, I was, and will continue to be, humbled by the way they have served our country, both during their active duty and their continued lifetime of service to their community.
“Freedom isn’t free.” We know this today as well as the citizens of the 1940’s or the 1770's.
Don’t skip the ceremony. Take your children and teach them what price has been paid for them.
Your freedom to worship as you choose, was purchased with the blood of thousands of men and women who believed in the ideal of freedom enough to march behind a United States flag and stare tyranny in the face.
Your salvation was purchased with the blood of the innocent Son of God.
Grasp the gift purchased for you.
Come and worship.
Sundays, 9:30 am
www.elcaAndy.org
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