Honoring Those Who Died By Living to Protect Our Freedom

31 May Honoring Those Who Died By Living to Protect Our Freedom

LET US HONOR THOSE WHO DIED TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM

BY LIVING TO PROTECT OUR FREEDOM

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Memorial Day was formerly known as Decoration Day because it was a day originally set aside to decorate the graves of those who died in the Civil War and to remember their sacrifice in solemn ceremonies. It has since been expanded to include all those who have died in service to our country.

Years ago, President Reagan wrote about those who died protecting our freedom:

“It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away.  The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray-haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives, the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.”

More recently, Jocko Willink, a retired Navy SEAL, made the same point.

A best-selling author of the book Extreme Ownership, Willink expanded on this idea in a thoughtful op-ed piece.* He urged Americans to remember that fallen soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines were warriors who endured gnawing hunger, searing thirst, merciless heat, bitter cold, and crushing fatigue… who fought in lonely and forsaken places around the globe to confront our enemies… and that while they may have used night vision goggles, global positioning systems, drones, lasers and thermal optics… it was still a person, a human being, who did the work.

He reminded us that the fallen warriors were sons, brothers, fathers… daughters, sisters, mothers… who had hopes and dreams for a future that they gave up so that we could have our hope for a future. He urged us all that when we enjoy the gifts of family, friends and freedom, we must never forget where they came from and live lives worthy of the sacrifice they made for our freedoms.

Today, our freedoms are under attack as never before. 

Another way we can honor our fallen heroes is by doing what is necessary to protect and advance the freedoms that they died to preserve for us.

We are facing a time more serious than the Civil War, more serious than Pearl Harbor, more serious than the World Trade Center. It is more serious because this time, the attack is not merely external. We have always been able to unite to meet external threats. This time, the attack is also internal. We are fighting enemies both foreign and domestic, from those who would subvert and destroy the values on which our nation was founded, and for which so many have died.

But we who embrace our traditional values are in the majority. Our political system has been hijacked to advance values antithetical to American values. But we can meet this assault if we will, by doing at least these three things:

1. Pray that God will still intervene to meet this godless assault on our nation and our traditional American values.
2. Run for your school board, to throw out the godless values being promoted by those hostile to our traditional and biblical values. This website, https://www.thoughtco.com/how-to-become-school-board-member-3194408, gives a general outline of how to become a school board member. Consult local resources for information specific to your school board.
3. Become a Precinct Committee person. This website, https://precinctstrategy.com/the-neighborhood-precinct-committeeman-strategy-to-take-back-the-republican-party-and-then-america-at-the-ballot-box, reveals a brilliant and almost fool-proof strategy on how we can take back American values at the ballot box.

This grass roots involvement could potentially do more to restore our national values than many other more obvious measures.

There is much more that can be done, including actually running for office, on any level, from local to national. But if enough Americans do just these three things, we can have a major impact. So, this Memorial Day, let all Americans consider what we each might do to stand against the assault on our nation and uphold the values that made our country great.

Let each of us join ranks with those who died to protect our freedom. Let us live to protect our freedom. 

Let us do as President Reagan encouraged, let us remember our fallen warriors. And as Jocko Willink encouraged, let us live lives that are worthy of the freedom and opportunity they have made possible. And let us live in such a way as to ensure that they did not die in vain.

In addition, as we honor those who gave their lives that we might have our national freedom, we also honor the ultimate sacrifice Christ made to secure our spiritual freedom. As He said, “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). As we ponder all that Jesus accomplished in giving His life for us, it inspires us to give our lives back to Him.

The hearts of thoughtful Christians can honor temporal sacrifice and eternal sacrifice on the same day.

*You can read the full Jocko Willink op-ed here.

We will return to our series on Renew You Mind ~ Transform Your Life with the next regular blog post.

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