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There are no Republicans or Democrats on Memorial Day. We stand together to honor those who have fallen on fields of battle in service to our country.
On May 28, 2007, President George W. Bush focused his Memorial Day address at Arlington National Cemetery on the families of those who have lost loved ones in the current war on terror in the Middle East. He said, “We pray that our country may always prove worthy of the sacrifices they made.”
Upon reflection, that is an incredibly high bar of worth for us to rise to meet. Republicans, Democrats and others may part company over how we should rise to that bar, but we can agree over our calling to live in gratitude for what we have been given at such a heavy cost to others. It is a call to live gratefully and gracefully.
But it’s also a call to harness our grit! The President continued, “This morning, I met service members who received medals for distinguished service -- and found myself humbled by their grace and their grit.”
What a great character combination--grace and grit! What a perfect chord of harmony those qualities strike in our hearts!
I have another prayer to suggest. I need to re-arrange the President’s words (above) a bit. I don’t think he will mind: “We pray that our church may always prove worthy of the sacrifice Jesus made.”
That prayer is scarier than ever. Again, this bar of worth is too high. Proving ourselves worthy, as countries, churches or as individuals, can be quite a stretch, especially when Jesus' graceful sacrifice sets the bar.
We fall far too short. This brings us back to grace! Perhaps it is all we can do just to be truly grateful, to our own dying day!
Joel Mark Solliday, B.A., M.Div., is the editor of Campus CrossWalk and the pulpit minister of the Northern Light Church of Christ in Minnesota. He earned his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary and has worked at Pepperdine and ACU. His lovely wife Katie is a junior high school teacher.
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