Solemn Celebrating

In a few days, the flags will fly a little higher, grills will burn a little hotter and many will take the time to remember.

It is a time to celebrate, although probably not in the raucous out-of-control method many might envision

Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is a time to remember those who committed to the call of their country, and paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. It is a time for family, but it should be prioritized by remembering our freedoms, where we are since the calls for freedom from Britain were first sounded. It hasn’t been an easy road. Growing pains have followed us to this day.

The student of history can easily document moments when the American government dropped the ball in the moral court of rightness it claimed. Equally, there are times we need to separate the American citizen from the American government system. Sometimes the disconnect with our leaders is vast; policies promoted that should have never left the smoke-filled back room, evidence of morality lost in the name of equality.

What should be noted on this coming day of remembrance is for as much as we may or may not need a course correction nationally, we have the opportunities and freedoms we do because of the men and women since before the Declaration of Independence who recognized the value of freedom, people who looked beyond the obvious and took a chance.

Getting to the future is not for those who insist on being safe and taken care of. It is accomplished by those who set an objective and push through, risk and all. It is for those who stand for what is right even when standing alone.

Holidays like Memorial Day are in honor of those who went before us, who in the course of military conflict and protecting the interests of our country have seen and done things that haunt them until their last breath so that the rest of us can enjoy our coffee shop moments and sleep quietly.

It is their choice and dedication that allows us to vote in a free election, object to the election and decisions of our elected officials. It is their choices historically that allow anyone with minimal qualifications to seek office.

It is not a perfect system, but it is better than what most Europeans came from. It should at the least inspire us to try harder, hold on tighter to what is right, and keep protecting our freedoms as stated in the Constitution.

I’m constantly reminded of a quote from Benjamin Franklin following the signing of the Constitution. He was confronted by a woman upon leaving the meeting hall who asked “What do we have?” Franklin’s reply was simple but haunting: “A republic. Now if we can keep it.”

We too often go from conflict to settled into a catatonic mentality. If it doesn’t happen in our front yard, it doesn’t matter. The enemy of my enemy is my friend has been exchanged for that person I don’t know is my enemy because I’m told his great-grandfather’s family did something against my family. We are worse than the proverbial Hatfields and McCoys. We are encouraged to find fault with each other instead of seeking ways to unite.

One in a while Hollywood offers an example of social values. The movie “Saving Private Ryan” opens with an elderly man at a tombstone trying to fight back the tears, quietly whispering his hopes that his life was worth the sacrifice. Later viewers see a squad leader tell a young version of the opening scene “You better be worth it” as they battle through impossible odds to get him home.

I wonder how it would change us if we lived that moment. Yes, veterans need recognized. But reverse the scene for a moment. What if the veteran who is working through illnesses associated with his military service looks a civilian in the eye and bluntly tells him or her “You better be worth all the nightmares I’m lives with.”

We need to remember to schedule next Monday for what it is, a time to recognize the sacrifices that have given us what we have, and that it is our responsibility to maintain it.