Fort Snelling National Cemetery in Minnesota is truly a memorable place—row after row after row of identical white tomb stones of American veterans. My grandfather is buried there—a World War I veteran. My 92-year-old father will be buried there—World War 2 veteran. My son, if he chooses, could be buried there—a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan). My grandfather, father, and son all came home after the war, but many did not. I remember being a “Blue Star mom” while my son was in Afghanistan, and I grieved for those “Gold star moms”—those who had a son killed in the fighting. Those moms will always remember, every single day, the terrible cost their sons paid…and we should remember, too.
From the Revolutionary War to the present, more than 1,000,000 American soldiers have died in war. Today, even though the news doesn’t report it much anymore, U.S. soldiers are still fighting and still dying…the high price of freedom.
The following is from a very thoughtful post by Kevin DeYoung:
It is always tricky to know how the church should or shouldn’t celebrate patriotic holidays. Certainly, some churches blend church and state in such a way that the kingdom of God morphs into a doctrinally-thin, spiritually nebulous civil religion. But even with this danger, there are a number of good reasons why Christians should give thanks for Memorial Day.
Read his five reasons why Christians should give thanks here.
