"Freedom is not Free", a reminder offered during this year's gathering, at the North Naples, Florida, Memorial Day ceremony. It's a reminder from the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. The Memorial offers another thought too - one now sadly devalued: "Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met."
Myra (my wife) and I allowed our thoughts to drift back to our childhoods. True, we were in another country and not all the wars were the same . but we remember everything stopping as the nation remembered those who had died in her wars. We remember a minute of silence. We remember being at ceremonies - like Monday's - where wreaths were offered and a small payment made on a debt of honor owed to the dead and their bereaved families. When Myra and I looked around during this year's ceremony, we were saddened by the absence of younger generations . We saw few children being reminded of the price of freedom, or the debt of honor.
There was, I know, much wrong with some of the unthinking patriotism of earlier days. Rarely can there have been a more foolish comment than the Roman poet's, "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country". There is nothing sweet or fitting about war. But there is much that is sweet, and fitting, and honorable about a willingness to stand between the enemy and those you love. There is great honor in protecting the values which underpin the American way of life. There is much that is fitting in answering the call to arms and recognizing the need for duty and discipline. There is great sweetness in the brotherhood of arms . "For he to-day that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother".
Too many of the values that made America great are being discarded - not passed in a spiritual legacy from grandparents, to parents, to children. Too many memorials are left untended and promises not kept. If we forget to honor the sons and daughters who answered the call, let us not be surprised if - one day - there are none willing to pay the price of freedom.
Ian Rowlands
Family Life
Ian and Myra Rowlands are part of a Christian Ministry - FamilyLife® -- dedicated to helping husbands and wives live marriages. They are raising their support so they can report to their assignment, and we invite you to take a look at their website: www.therowlands.cccministry.org to see if their family-centered focus in One Nation Under God is one you feel you can help with. Ian will be a regular contributor to One Nation Under God U.S.A.'s website (www.onug.us), covering the interaction between faith, family and freedom.
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"...God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" -Ben Franklin