5/31 - Memorial Day: Remembering the Cost of Freedom with Gratitude
Memorial Day:
Remembering the Cost of Freedom with Gratitude
While I know it's a few days past Memorial Day, I didn't want to let this holiday slip by without some acknowledgement of its significance. Memorial Day often arrives with the unofficial beginning of summer — cookouts, family gatherings, long weekends, and the excitement of warmer days ahead. There is nothing wrong with enjoying those moments. Time with family and loved ones is a precious gift that deserves to be enjoyed.
But before we move fully into celebration, Memorial Day invites us into something deeper: remembrance.
Memorial Day exists because men and women gave something that cannot be repaid. They laid down their lives in service to our country - the United States of America, sacrificing future birthdays, anniversaries, family dinners, holidays, and precious moments with the people they loved so that others could experience freedom. All those moments we enjoy and take for granted, those men and women sacrificed for us.
Today, we pause and remember that our freedom has always come with a cost.
Some families have an empty seat at the table because of that sacrifice. Some spouses carried on without their husbands or wives. Some children grew up with stories and photographs instead of memories of relationships with their parent. Some parents experienced a grief no parent should ever have to carry, that grief that come from your own child passing away before you.
For many of us, Memorial Day can feel distant because we may not personally know someone who gave their life in military service. Yet the freedoms we often consider ordinary—the ability to worship freely, gather with loved ones, express our beliefs, and pursue our callings—have been protected by extraordinary courage. Whether you personally know someone who died serving our country or not, you still benefit from the privilege that come from that sacrifice. That sacrifice warrants our eternal gratitude
Gratitude has a way of changing our perspective.
Regular expression of gratitude changes the neuropathways in our brains...essentially rewiring our brains to be more positive and sometimes more humble, as we recognize just what we have to be grateful for.
Gratitude reminds us to slow down enough to recognize blessings we did not create on our own. It shifts us away from entitlement and toward humility. Freedom is one of those blessings. I encourage you to never take this freedom for granted.
As you gather with family, laugh around the table, watch children play, or enjoy the simple blessings of the day, today and in the future, take a moment to remember those who made sacrifices they never returned from.
Speak their names if you know them.
Pray for the families who still carry grief.
Teach children why this day matters.
And hold gratitude close.
Because the freedoms we enjoy were never free.
Today, we remember. Today, we honor. Today, we give thanks.
If you'd like to see any of my previous blog posts, please click here or visit the Blog tab on my website.
Comments
Post a Comment