After making a statement about not really realizing what Memorial Day was about (oh, I ‘knew’ but it was just a thought, not a conviction), there were a lot of folks that approached me and spoke about the fact they did not really know either. It appears that most see it as the first of summer time, a three-day weekend, the end of school celebration, or just a great time for a family cook out. For most of my adult life, it was ‘my time.’ I used it to either play or catch up on some overdue work. Mission: M25 is trying to change that. We want it to be more than a day off. Let us reflect on what it started out to be and what it should be today.
In 1865, it was called “Decorations Day,” when women went to the graves of soldiers killed in the Civil War and decorated them. It was a first declared a holiday in 1871 by the state of Michigan. One historian declares, “Memorial Day speeches by politicians, veterans, and ministers spoke to commemorate the war and rehearse the atrocities of the enemy. They mixed religion with the celebration of our nation. It provided a means for the people to make sense of their history in terms of sacrifice for a better nation, closer to God.” Wow…if only there were more passionate ministers about our nation who would ‘mix it with religion’ that we could preserve our freedoms that we have held so dear. Maybe it would be great thing for us to be more vocal in the face of our national leaders to declare religion and war together.
What can we do? Well, Mission: M25 started something new this year. We call it “Reflections.” We had some patches made (see attached photo) to honor Memorial Day and then we had a rocker made with 2010 on it. The rocker also listed two men who served our country and Mission: M25 in a unique way. We then had two dinners, one in Dublin, VA (Appalachian Men’s Ministry sponsored the meal) and one in Fayetteville, NC. Those attending the meals were encouraged to get a patch and wear it in honor of Papa Smurf, our Upper South Carolina Point Man, and Garnett Jones from Wytheville, VA (please see Rolling Thunder report for more information).
As I listened to “Abraham, Martin and John” by Dion and reflected over my teen years, some things became more clear to me. I was a teenager in the 60’s at a time when our nation was rocking, the hippie revolution against the establishment (I was kicked out of a Conference youth camp for not wearing socks to the banquet with my suit); the Civil Rights Movement, and then the Viet Nam war. In my humble opinion, the church was paralyzed and did not know what to do. So our reaction was to be paralyzed and the only thing I remember about my youth in the church was a defensive mode. We tried to ‘hold on’ – preserve what we had. We bypassed a great opportunity called the Jesus Movement due to our paralysis brought on by fears. We attacked instead of embracing and including the uniqueness of the move of God.
Now, that may sound real judgmental and critical, but it is simply one man’s observation. What do we do? Do we criticize and go on a tour speaking of the evil of paralysis? Do we write a book? Do we preach to the choir? NO – Mission: M25 simply is trying to ‘light a candle rather than curse the darkness.’ We hope and pray that some day there will be “Reflection” dinners on Memorial Day all across this great nation we live in. If we honor our fallen, it will inspire our youth. We will see more young men and women love their country and bring Jesus to it.
You can complain all you want and make all the statements you want about being a Christian nation, but until we see evidence of Christ impacting our great country, you are simply just making noise. When we see population grow by 12% in ten years and the prison population grows by 33%, when there are as many divorces in the church as outside the church, when drug and alcohol abuse run rampant in our youth, and girls becoming pregnant at seriously young ages, it is hard to declare us as a Christian nation. When you see church attendance dropping due to our choices of pleasure and the almighty dollar – you are wasting your breath. Jesus declared he would “build the church,” not some weird concept of allowing people to do as they please and call themselves the church.
Let us believe together – pay the price and watch God bring a revival to our land!
Amen! this year in particular Memorial Day has become something different to me! It is a time to reflect on those who the day represents and to thank God for there families and there courage. Somewhere along the line it became about “the fun time to play weekend” when so many do not experience this and there families still hurt from there losses. God forgive us for being selfish and my prayer is for it to once again be about the purpose it was intended and that we would indeed reflect on the brave men and women for our freedom and On God Almighty for our Spiritual freedom! thank you M25 and may God strengthen you should he tarry for next year.
Gary. The “Reflections” service in Dublin was great! Glad Sarah & I could attend . My hat is off to you, Gary Cope, Rick Black and all the others that worked to coordinate it. Blessings