A DECORATION DAY REMINDER

For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes. - 1 Corinthians 11:26 (NASB)

Memorial Day. Yes, I know it was yesterday, and the day’s many festivities are now in the history books. Summer is here - and one to which I know many are looking forward. However, I think before we move too far forward, it is worth taking the time to look back to yesterday. Being a bit of a history buff, I must say a part of me wonders if we have not made an unfortunate oversight concerning how we observe Memorial Day.

Looking back to the history books, we now know that Memorial Day has roots in the Civil War. Numerous places claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day, a battle that will go on for eternity, it seems. I want to look back this morning to a different part of the history of Memorial Day - the name. For many years before the United States Congress officially established it as Memorial Day, it was known to many far and wide as ‘Decoration Day.’

The more I think about it, the more I wonder if part of the reason it seems we as a society have drifted away from observing the solemnity of the day revolved around the shift off of ‘Decoration Day.’ After all, ‘Decoration Day’ has at the core the tangible act of going to the cemetery and decorating the graves of those who have died in the line of duty. There is something about that tangible expression of appreciation and humility that can be lost when we take that concept out of the day itself.

Reflecting on this got me thinking about the sacrament of holy communion. St. Paul writes that whenever we eat this bread and drink of this cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. I cannot speak for anyone else but me, but there is something deeply moving about physically encountering the bread and cup that makes fresh the reality of Christ’s act of sacrificial love, pushing me further into wonder and awe, calling me to pursue deeper this tangible expression of divine grace and peace.

There’s something absolutely profound about tangible expressions recognizing the sacrifice made by others for the sake of those yet to come. Whether it is taking the time to journey to the cemetery to pay respect to those who died in service to their country or whether it is the taking of the bread and cup, there is something simply unforgettable and transformative in these physical acts.

May we never cheapen the sacrament of holy communion or the observance of Memorial Day by making them ‘one-off’ rituals; rather, let us be inspired by these acts of remembrance to lead lives transformed by the sacrifice of others.

QUESTION: How is it that God is using the rituals of your life to remember and be transformed by the sacrifices made on your behalf by others?

Grace and Peace,
Lamar