5.24.06 Memorial Day, and the practice of remembering.

 Once I read about a place called “Remembering”.

It is a place that one must visit carefully, mindfully. If we are not careful, we can get sucked into the memories. This is dangerous. It separates us from the real world. It

tempts us to remain, or to so long to be living that time again that we miss the present.

 Staying there becomes sentimentality, and is immobilizing.

Yet, avoiding there leaves us without understanding, without history, without roots, really, without a deep part of our selves.

But observing Memorial Day is different from visiting such a place. It is a particular time set apart for remembering people who have given their life in service of our country. They have sacrificed themselves to protect an idea, a way of life, a reality which they long for all to continue to share. It is a noble sacrifice.

 Remembering these people is about more than solemn thoughts. Remembering these people does more than merely help us recognize and appreciate the precious gift of living in a democracy. If we allow it, it changes us. It enables us to live with courage and boldness.

 One of the sacraments is about remembering – remembering that ‘on the night in which he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread…again after supper he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave for all to drink saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and all people for the forgiveness of sin. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 Jesus said, “Do this for the remembrance of me.”

 ‘Remembrance’ is much more than a memory through which we escape from the world and its problems. It’s more than a thought that helps us feel good. It is an act which changes us. It is entering into Jesus’ sacrifice, Jesus’ gift of life. It is becoming part of the body of Christ. In other words, it changes us in the present.

 This is exactly where God calls us to remain: living in the present, in Christ.