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Today is an American holiday, and as an American I take the opportunity to say that I am grateful that I was born and raised here in this country. It is not without its problems, certainly, but I appreciate the freedom that I have here. Yes, I admit, I am a bit of a patriot. Even so I was a little bit uncomfortable with recognizing Memorial Day in church yesterday. It was tastefully done, I think, and I really did appreciate the main message of the sermon (even though the pastor read the Gettyburg Address to get his point across). They did sing one of my favorite patriotic hymns, however. I really like the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Every time I hear it I think about Civil War documentaries since the tune was also used for an abolitionist anthem and is invariably used in all such documentaries (the words to the hymn were written in the first year of the war). It really does have some great words, loaded though they be with abolitionist meaning. As much as I like the song it is a bit weird to sing it at church.
In honor of Memorial Day I would like to say that I appreciate those in the United States military. Regardless of what individual American citizens think of the various wars in the past and present, we should all be willing to express our gratitude for their willingness to serve on our behalf.
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5 comments:
May the Lord be with all your men and women that are presently serving all over the world, and especilly Iraq at this moment.
I hope you had a most pleasant Memorial Day!
Personally, I think we shoudl keep those things out of church, but in England most churches remember the war dead on Memorial Sunday.
God Bless
Matthew
Thanks for stopping by, you two! It's good to see you here, as always.
Whenever I hear the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" I think of my dad. He died when I was 12 as a very devout Catholic. He never seemed very enthusiastic at church (who does in a Catholic service?) But ... when that song was sung, he really would get visibly moved. It is a fond memory.
Thanks for sharing that, Rose.
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