A Quiet Moment of Gratitude

Memorial Day is a day for hot dogs and a swim but let’s not forget what it really is about.  Yes, the people we are remembering are those who have given the ultimate sacrifice….

….their lives.   Heartfelt gratitude to those precious beings and also to their families who have had to let them go.

According to John Yemma of the Christian Science Monitor, “Watch the flagpole outside a military base, government office, or VFW or American Legion hall.   At dawn, the flag is first raised to full staff and quickly lowered to half staff. At midday it is raised and left at full staff.

That sequence only happens on Memorial Day. The idea is that in the morning the nation honors the million-plus men and women who have fallen in service to the country. The return of the flag to full staff is meant to show commitment by the living to the cause of freedom — what Lincoln called “the unfinished work” for which the fallen gave “the last full measure of devotion.”

Any Memorial Day — but especially one in a year of passionate political side-choosing — is a good time for Republicans, Democrats, independents, and none-of-the-aboves to remember that freedom isn’t a partisan cause. It’s everyone’s unfinished work.”

We bow our heads in praise.