Memorial Day Weekend often marks the unofficial start of summer. Many head to the cabin, fire up the grill, attend graduation parties, and maybe even take advantage of a few holiday sales. These traditions matter; they bring people together. But amidst the laughter and extended weekend plans, this day holds something much more profound.
Reflecting on a worthy life
Memorial Day asks us to pause and reflect on something most of us can barely comprehend: the weight of a life laid down in service to others. The sacrifice of soldiers who died for the sake of our freedom isn’t just noble; it’s staggering.
In John 15:13, Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” But what about those who laid down their lives for people they never knew? For strangers? For us? That kind of love defies easy understanding.
I think about that moment in Saving Private Ryan, when an old James Ryan stands at the grave of the man who died for him and asks, “Have I lived a good life?” That question sticks with me. It’s a question I think many of us quietly ask when faced with the enormity of another’s sacrifice. Am I living in a way that honors what they gave?
Remembering the lives forever changed
During my deployment as a chaplain to Iraq and Syria, I remember walking the dusty airfield at dawn with a young soldier who had just lost one of his best friends. His eyes were heavy, not just with grief, but with the weight of what it all meant. We stood in silence as a flag-draped transfer case was loaded onto a Chinook helicopter, homebound. There were no speeches, just silence, tears, and the low hum of the engines breaking through the morning stillness.
At that moment, I wasn’t offering answers; I was offering presence, the kind of presence that says, You’re not alone. This matters. He mattered. And in that moment, standing in that desert heat, it struck me that Memorial Day isn’t about abstract patriotism. It’s about names, faces, and stories. It’s about remembering that behind every folded flag is a family changed forever.
Honoring the service of others by living our values
We call our soldiers “service members,” but really that should describe all of us. Because the proper response to sacrifice, and the freedom it ensures, is not just gratitude, it’s service. Not because we have to but because we get to.
Freedom is not the absence of responsibility; it’s the invitation to choose love, purpose, and service. I’ve heard it said, and I believe we only truly find ourselves when we give ourselves away.
So, this Memorial Day, let’s remember those who gave all. Let’s honor them not just with a moment of silence but with lives that reflect their courage, service, and love.
A prayer for Memorial Day
God of mercy and strength,
Today, we remember those who laid down their lives so that others might live in freedom.
We lift up their families, those who carry the ache of absence every day.
We pray for peace to fill the places still at war,
And for courage to fill the hearts of those still serving.
Help us not to take for granted the cost of our liberty.
Teach us to live lives worthy of their sacrifice, lives of purpose, compassion, and service.
Let our remembrance be more than words.
Let it be the way we live.
Amen.
