Well, we have arrived at another Memorial Day, or Decoration Day – whichever term you choose to use. As I write this, I am grateful, and very thankful, that we still have the freedom to write blogs like these… Inevitably, when one shares an opinion on a topic, there will be those who disagree. That is the beauty of a Representative Republic. It should be, and is, the will and character of the people that keep us safe from outside sources, and is reflected in our leaders. There are millions of men and women in the history of our Republic who gave their lives to keep it that way… We remember, honor, and pay tribute to them on Memorial Day every year… I hope this post will make you think. I pray, above anything, that you will be able to take something beneficial away from it. If you disagree – that is ok – it should be that way. If you agree, please share it with someone else.
Anyone who has kept up with current events knows how fractured and divided our country is – on many levels in many areas. We are our own worst enemy folks. When we topple, we have done it to ourselves. Every person who has died defending our country renews that the spirit of freedom – and its symbol, our flag, to the point that it will only die if WE kill it. Don’t believe me?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5quV1pxefjA
So, instead of arguing over the National Anthem, flag protests, and the spirit of freedom they represent, I will let 3 important men in our history tell you what they think; our first president, the man who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and the Father of our Constitution. I surmise their wisdom on the topic far exceeds anyone alive today – but I have been known to be wrong.
“Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.” — George Washington
What good is a “show of patriotism” from a group of people who don’t believe in what they are supposed to be respecting? If anything, just going through the motions of a traditional patriotic act only weakens it.
“What country can preserve its liberties if the rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance.” — Thomas Jefferson to William Stephens Smith, 1787.
“I hold it that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms are in the physical.” — Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1787.
“Equal laws protecting equal rights – the best guarantee of loyalty and love of country,” — James Madison
I’m not saying that football players should kneel in protest; nor am I suggesting either the NFL, its owners, and the president are wrong. I’m simply saying that it is a symptom of a much larger problem in our Republic, Our society is broken, and we have done it to ourselves. I wish both sides, instead of yelling that the other side is wrong, would try to find the root of the problem. Henry David Thoreau put it this way: “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.”
Oh – one other item. If the NFL is THAT serious about our flag and anthem, then they themselves should not disrespect it every single week.
“(c) The flag should never be carried flat or horizontally, but always aloft and free.” This would include stretching it horizontally across the football field each week.
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/4/8
I collected a few of my favorite music videos honoring our fallen soldiers – may the freedom they embody never leave us folks. If it does, we are goners for sure. They STILL fight for us, now to keep the peace – we just can’t see them. Never give them a reason to stop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJO7lJIxG10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbDFgbKDTTE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24WRxxsra04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSSaA7ymRhY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IMn4c4MwM0
I want to introduce you to a former Navy Seal who is in country music now, and a song about the fallen ones he knows. Maybe we should make the Sunday before Memorial Day a holiday as well. We could use it to honor those who returned with larger crosses than they left with. You will see what I mean in the last videos.
https://www.onecountry.com/country-music/get-to-know-pete-scobell/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7iWRiIf3T8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0fMzeo34sA
I would say “Happy Memorial Day” but happy is not what I feel. I feel solemn respect, love, humility, sadness; and I have the thought stuck in my craw that we will have to explain to them why we failed to understand their example. In a way, it is much like the example Jesus set for us, but on a different level. While you are at a barbeque, or cookout, or just enjoying time with family today, please take a second and pray for our country and for wisdom for our president and other leaders. It ain’t too late folks, but it is nearly midnight.