Memorial Day 2020

This is Pastor Tim’s Article which appeared in the Evening Leader on Tuesday, May 26, 2020

In our contemporary setting, when we think of a threat, we naturally think of COVID-19.  It has been referred to as the “invisible enemy.”  That is a good description because all we see are the effects of it.  We hear news reports about people who are sick, and we are experiencing the shut down designed to flatten the curve.  In order to actually see this enemy, you need a microscope and a laboratory.

I know this is hard to imagine, but the United States have faced many enemies prior to COVID-19 that were anything but invisible and they were far more deadly.  Where COVID-19 threatens our way of life and our health, enemies we have faced in the past have threated our freedom and our sensibilities.  The tools we used to fight these enemies was not a vaccine or a treatment and it certainly wasn’t a quarantine.  These enemies we fought with guns, weapons, strategies, and blood.

Yesterday was Memorial Day, the day we pause to remember those who have delivered to us the great country we live in today.  I know that Memorial Day 2020 was anything but typical, but that does not change the fact that we are remembering brave women and men who served our country with distinction to defend us from threats and enforce justice for those who need help.  I know that it is strange to talk about freedom when we have been shut down for over 2 months, but we need to understand this is what life could be like all the time.  If you are thankful that we have hope of full rights and freedom will return one day soon, that gratitude should be directed to Veterans.

I know that this quarantine is getting old, believe me, I get it.  But the science of COVID-19 is increasingly indicating that the population most at risk of infection are the generation who were alive during WWII, Korea, and Vietnam wars.  I wasn’t alive during any of those conflicts, but there is no denying that the world that I grew up in and the world I currently inhabit could be radically different had these people not given up so much to secure it for me.  Now the world needs the rest of us to step up and defend the world against a whole new enemy, an enemy that is not much of a threat to younger generations.  What we can be thankful is that in order to keep the infection rate down, we are asked to stay home.  Previous generations were given some minimal training, handed a rifle and asked to die for their country.  Makes being homebound a little easier to take when compared to what previous generations were asked to do.

God bless every single Veteran in the entire history of our country from the Revolutionary War to the troops currently deployed or in reserves.  Because of their bravery and sacrifice, I know for a fact that my freedom has been granted to me.  I also have every confidence that ending this shut down and returning that full freedom to all of us is the first priority of every leader this country has from the national level down to our local leaders.  The only reason that returning to that freedom is even an option is because so many people fought so hard and gave up so much to make us free.

It isn’t our politics that make us great, it isn’t our resources or technology that make us great.  Those things are just a product of what truly makes us great.  America is great because of her people and the reason that is true is because this country guarantees freedom to allow that greatness to shine.

Don’t believe the hype or the dooms day voices, the USA has been great, is great and will continue to be great.  The reason that we are great is because the freedom granted to us by the Constitution and Bill of Rights is second greatest gift that our country has been given.  The first greatest gift being the Grace that came from the Cross of Jesus Christ.

If you are looking for something worth celebrating, may I suggest starting with Grace and Freedom?