Intentional Remembering
Back in Feb of 2020 I was able to experience it differently, though. I had nominated my dad, who served in the Air Force for 25 years. Most of my childhood was spent living on bases across the US and Europe because of my dad’s military service. But honestly, I had low expectations of him being chosen. I assumed hundreds were nominated for the limited number of home games available, but sure enough, after a few weeks, I got the call. Someone the Predators had previously selected had a scheduling conflict, and they wondered if my dad was available. So my sisters and I stood and watched my dad – who wasn’t an officer or a war hero – receive a level of honor normally reserved for athletes and rock stars. It was overwhelming for him, he didn’t really know how to react in the moment.
He said he felt undeserving because he made it home from war and so many others did not.
As we approach Memorial Day, we have the opportunity to give appropriate honor to those who gave their lives in service to their country. And as a Christian, I have a lot of practice in what I’d call “intentional remembering”. Every time I observe communion, I’m intentionally remembering that Jesus gave His body and blood in sacrifice for my redemption. (Your redemption, too. In case no one has told you today, Jesus is nuts about you.) Intentional remembering is just something people of faith do.
There’s a practice in the Old Testament that I’ve always been drawn to. It’s the building of altars, but not altars to sacrifice on, not altars inside a temple – altars that existed to help us remember. You see it in Joshua 4, after the nation of Israel successfully crosses the Jordan. Joshua has them stack 12 stones that had previously been at the bottom of the river to create an altar, and in verse 21 he says, “In the future when someone asks what’s the deal with these stones, you tell them ‘Israel crossed this spot on dry ground.’” Joshua created a place of intentional remembering so that the people would be reminded of God’s faithfulness, so that they wouldn’t forget what took place that day to secure their freedom.
This Memorial Day creates an opportunity for intentional remembering, one that I hope we don’t miss. Perhaps you stop at one of the many beautiful veterans cemeteries in the area to pay your respects. Perhaps you take time to pray for those who have lost a loved one in service, or if you know someone, you reach out. Perhaps you go on a walk and just give yourself a little time of quiet and solitude in remembrance.
It says in John 15 that “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” There are many who have done just that, and I am so grateful.
