Memorial Day Message
Published: Mon, 05/29/17
who made the ultimate sacrifice.
It's fine that Memorial Day is backyards
and barbecue and beer.
It's also fine that Memorial Day is parades
and civic pride and veterans who honor
their fallen comrades.
It's also not enough.
Wars happen when our institutions fail. When
our ability to talk with each other, listen to each
other, value the agenda of another and work
with them becomes weak.
When we go into self protection mode.
That happens between nations. And within them.
When we stop hearing. When a different group becomes
"less than."
When we have to make ourselves feel bigger by making
someone else smaller by comparison.
If that's where you are, then so be it.
But if you look closely, the consequences are in front of you.
Your life is poorer than it could be. Your relationships, your
career, your finances, your health, your spiritual well being
all decline when you operate in anger, fear and greed.
And if you walk down Memorial Blvd. in Bristol, Connecticut,
or the monuments to war dead in many towns, you'll see it
there as well.
And if you listen to stories from generations past you'll see it.
A grandfather in Normandy. A husband in Vietnam.
A son in Afghanistan.
A veteran's suicide back and home. An average of 22 everyday.
To my mind, those are also military deaths.
Memorial Day is a time we honor those who gave their lives
for our freedom.
It isn't enough to thank them and move onto a steak.
It's time to make a commitment to living in ways that
reduce the chances of lives taken needlessly and families
suffering the ultimate pain.
Happy Memorial Day,
Larry