Chadsworth and Ladyinred posting for JustAmy.
Memorial Holiday Ping for JustAmy
While Amy is off on Holiday, we (Chads) and I will be your hosts for today's thread. The wonderful graphic was designed by the lovely and talented Billie!
Since it is still the day of the dedication to the WW2 vets memorial on the West coast where I am, I wanted to take just a moment to salute those brave men and women who fought so valiantly for freedom all those years ago. One of them was my dad, who I wish with all of my being could have lived to see the honor bestowed to them all today in DC.
What a breathtaking ceremony took place! It was wonderful when the camera panned to the invited guests and you saw so many obvious vets from the Great war. Their emotional reaction was so touching to see, and it made tears come to more than one eye that is for sure!
This Memorial day, let's remember to take a few moments to remember the sacrifices these courageous men and women gave for us all! May God bless those still with us, and may those who have gone on RIP! WE HONOR THEIR MEMORY!
I LOVE YOU DADDY! I STILL FLY YOUR FLAG FOR YOU EVERYDAY!
United States of America
Read: John 14:16-21,24-27
I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever. —John 14:16
Bible In One Year: 2 Chronicles 10-12; John 11:30-57
When two uniformed men came to my door on Memorial Day afternoon, I thought they were collecting for charity. Instead, they told me that my sister and her husband had been killed in an accident earlier that day.
Just over a year after that shattering event, our church choir sang "Veni, Sancte Spiritus" ("Come, Holy Spirit") on Pentecost Sunday (Whitsunday). It brought a wave of peace over my still-aching soul. One verse says: "Thou best of Consolers, sweet guest of the soul, sweet refreshment. In labor, Thou art rest; in heat, the tempering; in grief, the consolation."
On Pentecost Sunday, many churches celebrate the Holy Spirit's coming in power on the disciples (Acts 2:1-21). But the Spirit came also as the Comforter promised by Jesus: "I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" (John 14:16). The Spirit lives within each Christian, bringing the peace of Christ along with encouragement and alleviation of grief.
Pentecost and Memorial Day seldom fall next to each other as they do in 2004. But the "sweet guest of the soul" is always with us on any day we remember our loved ones who have died. In grief, the Spirit is our consolation, the light of our hearts, the giver of everlasting joy. —David McCasland
Excellent combination.
Bob Hope personified remembering our vets. What a wonderful tribute.
Dear Unknown Soldier
I am writing this letter to you, dear soldier, to ask for your forgiveness.
As we each take a moment of silence on Memorial Day we will remember the millions of brave and gallant soldiers who fought for our freedom and we will thank them for their courage and their sacrifice.
We will attempt to imagine what their sacrifice must have been like -- the days in the trenches, the constant ring of gunshots, the blast of bombs and buzz of fighter planes. We will consider life on the frontline caked in mud and blood, watching soldiers fall around us. We will try to comprehend the death and destruction in a constant ring of hell. We attempt to imagine the barbaric realities of war, the starving prisoners, the homeless, parentless children, the wounded and dying young men and women. And we will try to understand the pain of knowing we may never see our children or our families again.
You, Unknown Soldier, can help me to understand for your sacrifice was a huge one.
Your bravery and courage has gone without its medal and without a grave to bear its cross. You selflessly gave your namesake to preserve a way of life and now you stand valiantly amongst the poppies as a statue of honor, courage and of freedom.
We will never fully understand your suffering, your heartache and will never even know your identity. You could have been a father, a brother, a son, a grandfather, a nephew -- you could have even been me.
But, dear soldier, I write to tell you that you do have an identity and perhaps one of the most honorable. You represent each and every soldier gone before and those who came after. You represent freedom and peace for me and my neighbors. You represent a life of honor, courage and bravery.
And so, as I pause in two minutes of silent tribute I will no longer call you Unknown Soldier, for you have a name -- thousands of them. You are using each one of ours.
Lest we forget. . .Renowned Soldier.
Cindy Ballance
Thank you for posting. Very nice poem, Bob. Thank you for the very appropriate and lovely graphic, Billie.
Just looked at your graphic again, in the shape of a flying flag. ; )