How does one appropriately
express appreciation for something that cannot be repaid? Our living
responses to this question are often awkward attempts to do what cannot be
done. This weekend reminds us of the significance of sacrifice and its power to
change our lives as individuals and a larger community. Giving thanks for those
gone before who have given selflessly for something beyond themselves presents
us with this difficult question. Memorial Day weekend is more than simply the
beginning of summer with its picnics, parades, and fireworks. Memorial Day
compels us to confront the gift that so many have given in service to their
country. That debt cannot be repaid. Living in the shadow of that debt,
however, challenges us to live as grateful people who acknowledge such sacrifice
in the way we live as citizens of this nation. Living in the powerful presence
of the stories and examples of sacrifice we will observe this weekend will
present us once again with the reminder of a debt that cannot ever be truly
repaid, but can and must ever be revered and remembered. We have been blessed
by those gone before...let us live mindful of such blessing.
Give thanks to God, the One
whose sacrifice in the offering of His Son, Jesus, the Christ, is truly the
greatest gift that can never be repaid.
Jim Abernathy
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