REMEMBERING.....

Today is Pearl Harbor Day.  This is the day the United States was attacked by the Japanese.  It drew the United States into World War II.  This day is called Remember Pearl Harbor.  Those who fought and died there are quickly fading into the pages of history.  There are few still alive who were there.  Today is not the only day we remember.  We have been called to Remember the Alamo, Remember the Maine, Remember the Lusitania, Remember 9/11/01, Remember Benghazi, Remember Fort Sumter.  All of these days and events remind us of the tragedy of war.

As a child, I remember hearing stories of World War I (my dad was a veteran of World War I), the Civil War (my great grandfather was a veteran), and World War II.  Growing up in the 1950's, we lived in the days of the "Cold War".  We had civil defense sites to go in case of an attack from the Soviet Union and Communism.  We felt as though we had to defend the world from the spread of communism so we went to war in  Korea and Vietnam.  Vietnam was a  bloody war that ended in our troops coming home to a disgruntled nation that spat on the soldiers and blamed the soldiers for the war.  I remember those days well for many friends and school mates lost their lives or came home maimed both physically and mentally. Now we are at war with "terrorists" and I put that in quotations for it is hard to define who our enemies really are.

War is ugly and destructive.  The South was destroyed by the Civil War.  Germany desolated by World War and World II had to rebuild not only infrastructure but government as well.  War starts with an act of aggression like the sinking of a boat or an attack on a major military installation or the assassination of a political leader.  War goes deeper than the act of aggression though.  It begins with clashes of social, economic, religious, and political ideas within a nation or between nations.  Wars fought for land, resources, ideals are about power.

Power indicates control or the ability to dictate what happens.  Power struggles happen even though we would rather have peace for there are some many different ways we view peace or what liberty means.  Equality sounds good on paper but hard to practice.  Equality for some is based on economics and religion that translates into political power.  Political power brings laws into existence that seek to extract certain behavior from the citizens or residents of a nation, state, or community.

There are those who value individual liberty above what is good for the country.  Some favor a confederation where the national government is about defense more than about carrying for the welfare of the citizens.  There are those who seek to have government as the solution to defense and general welfare. This is the state of America at the present time.  We are at war not with terrorism although we like to think we are.  We are fighting about marriage, abortion, prayer in schools, food stamps, health care, wages, fraud, waste, and  many other issues.  The budget of our country is held hostage over these issues.  Each side resorts to the blame game by blaming the other sides for the current war.  As in any war, the casualties are high.  While our politicians fight over who is right and who is wrong and who has the power to determine the course of action, our citizens pay the price.

The holiday season calls us to a better time and a better place where we see hope.  Our expectations give us faith so we long for that time when there will be peace on earth and goodwill to all persons as the angels proclaimed long ago.  Let us remember the words of Emmanuel who born as a lowly child long ago, challenged us to seek truth for in so doing we would be truly be free!

May our eyes, ears, hands, feet, and our hearts be open to remembering the call to give love, exhibit joy, live in peace, show humility, gentleness, kindness, and practice self control.