|
|
|
Memorial Day 2007 Last Monday our Nation celebrated Memorial Day. When we think of it, it can be rightfully said that Memorial Day and Labor Day, at the beginning of September are bookend Holidays. Memorial Day signals the beginning of Summer and Labor Day the end. Usually, great projects and movements commence with the spark of one person. In 1865 when our Civil War ended, Henry C. Welles, a druggist in the Village of Waterloo, N.Y. mentioned in a social gathering that we should honor the patriotic dead of the Civil War by decorating their graves A year later, in the Spring of 1866 he again mentioned his idea to General John Murray, who had become Seneca County Clerk in upstate N.Y. General Murray enthusiastically espoused the idea and a Committee was formed to plan a Day devoted to honor the dead. The townspeople wholeheartedly adopted the idea, and soon wreaths, crosses and bouquets were made for each veteran's grave. By May 5th 1866 civic societies joined the procession, with marching Bands to the 3 Cemeteries, at which impressive services were held and speeches by General Murray and various Clergymen inspired the people, so that one year later, May 5th 1867 the ceremonies were repeated. About one hundred years later, that is 1965 a Committee was formed to plan for the first Centennial of Memorial Day, set for May 30th. In May of 1966 through Congressional action, Waterloo, N.Y. was recognized as the "Birthplace of Memorial Day, which prior to that was referred to as "Decoration Day" being that the graves of the Veterans were decorated. On Memorial Day we honor the memory of men and women fallen in battle; but also we honor our Fathers and Mothers for their great sacrifices, strictly for our benefit. They lived and died for us. The military and our Parents endured much for our sakes. A question then arises, "what can we do for their sakes?" All sorts of high and noble motives have been attributed to them. For example, they fought a war to end war; -- to make the world safe for democracy; -- to make this a better world; -- to destroy forever the lawless; -- to finally make a Christian civilization possible. These were the aims in recent wars. If you were to ask the average military person, "what he or she is fighting for?" there is no doubt, that the answer would have been "to save our homes and those we love." If we could approach them as they lay wounded and dying, their uppermost thoughts would have been their loved ones and their homes. This also holds for our Parents when we recall their sacrifices for their loved ones and their homes. So, the question is still there: "What can we do for their sakes?" How can we pay the debt we owe? Simply we must do everything within our power to preserve the homes they lived for, and for which they died; -- homes, that were so enriched by the lofty ideals of God and Country! But unfortunately, we have to admit that all is not well with the American home. To be sure our American culture is threatened by the breakdown of the home. Our cities face the decay of law and order for the same reason. Our schools, which only two generations ago were the extension of the home, are now facing problems beyond control. All this unpleasantness, and real threat in our society, stems from the lack of idealism and discipline in the home. As a Nation, we have to re-emphasize the meaning of freedom, which too many understand it as license; -- thinking they are free with no rules, and no restrictions, whereas, true freedom has boundaries, and is clearly defined. We could say that real freedom is a parallel to the Golden Rule of the Gospels. The Ten Commandments, and the Lord's Sermon on the Mount, is all that humankind needs to achieve real happiness. But, look at the laws, which fill walls with law books, and the process has never stopped. Our lawmakers will never stop making new laws, even though, the concentrates of all laws, are the Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount as we just mentioned. Today, we face enemies beyond our boundaries, but we also have dangerous enemies from within. A sizeable amount of our citizens are indifferent, if not lethargic, justifying themselves by saying: "What can I do?" We seem to be cold toward our National heritage, our National heroes, and our national destiny. Patriotism, does not seem to warm our blood anymore. Many of us will remember from our civic or history classes in School, where we read the stories of historic Events and patriotic Heroes, that inspired us. Perhaps these Events and Persons may have been over-idealized, but I believe, that over idealizing, is so much better and edifying, than the "debunking" or under-rating our National Heritage. We have to once again give substance to the fact, that Memorial Day is a spark, which can ignite and give new life to the Land of the Free, and the Home of the Brave! The current of society today, dominated by the Liberals, who have no standards, nor morals, the current say is very swift, and it requires a gigantic effort, not to be caught up in this current. The Christian Home must be re-edified; we must also sense the spirit of true freedom, for which Christ set us free. Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: "Consider patriotism. I was about to say, that patriotism once was taught in every home, in every hamlet in our Country. But the word 'taught' is hardly precise. Patriotism did not have to be taught --- It was absorbed! It was there in all of us, a living emotion that permeated the Nation. Some Historians now tell us that it was an unreasoning emotion, that sometimes blinded us to our faults.
Maybe so, but it was an emotion, that on balance was good for the soul - and good for our Country!" Thus spoke the General. You may have heard of the renowned Clergyman, Peter Marshall, who was Chaplain for the U.S. Senate, about 40 years ago. He once offered a prayer with a patriotic glow. He prayed: "O God, our Father, we pray that the people of America, who have made such progress in material things, may now seek to grow in spiritual understanding. For we have improved our means, but have not improved our ends. We have better ways of getting there, but we have no better places to go. We can save more time, but we are not making any better use of the time we save. We need Your help to do something about the world's true problems - the problem of lying, which is called propaganda; --the problem of selfishness, which is called self-interest;--the problem of greed, which is often called profit;--the problem of license, disguising itself as liberty;-the problem of lust, masquerading as love;--the problem of materialism, whose hook is baited with security. 'Hear our prayers O Lord, for the spiritual understanding, which is better than political wisdom, that we may see our problems for what they are. This we ask in Jesus' Name. Amen." And my question is: "If it was ever possible for Chaplain Marshall, who passed away a generation ago, to deliver another prayer before the U.S. Senate today,-- what would be the subject of his prayer?" +Fr George Papadeas
|
|
Back to home page
Send mail to
epantaz@yahoo.com with
questions or comments about this web site.
|