A Memorial Day Reflection
No greater love...
“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)
On this Memorial Day, we remember those who gave their lives for America—the valiant men and women who sacrificed their souls for the cause of freedom. Their memory is a reminder of what it means to love greatly.
For our nation was born out of love for God, and it will also be saved by that same love.
As Thomas Paine wrote in December 1776:
“These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: — It is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”
Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address in November 1863 is as meaningful as ever:
“It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us that, from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here, gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain; that the nation, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
And finally, in the words of John F. Kennedy:
“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter the words, but to live by them.”
With grateful hearts, may we seek to live our lives in a way that honors those who died defending our freedom.
Photo Credit: Stephanie Augusta Bento
© Stephanie Augusta Bento, House of Riverenza, 2024.