Memorial Day

Memorial Day can be one of those days we spend enjoying good food and family with out a thought about what this day was set aside to commemorate. Years ago I went to a Memorial Day parade in my grandparent's town of Deruyter, New York.

Grandpa Johnson was a WWII Vet and my stepdad was in the Airforce so the two off them rode together down the parade route into the town cemetary. Their scooters were decked out in American Flags and we all wore red poppies. Waiting for the parade of veterens to reach us in the cemetary we stood near Uncle Tom's headstone as grandma told us stories of his time as a Golden Knight and she and the other ladies adorned the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and ribbons. They were friends and family who had served their country. Some had fallen in battle paying the ultimate sacrifice for freedom and others has lived to enjoy the freedom they had striven to protect.

When the parade reached the top of the hill the sad bugle call of Taps could be heard from among the graves far off honoring those who had fought. Grandpa Johnson loved this country and has now gone on to a more blessed land where war has ceased and the Prince of Peace reigns. I pray the legacy he left of honoring the brave who have fought for us, for our freedom continues and that every Memorial Day my thoughts and prayers go to those who have sacrificed and are still sacrificing for America the land of the free because of the brave!!!

In Flanders Fields
John McCrea 1915

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row by row
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below
We are the dead. Short days ago.
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow.
Loved and were loved and now we lie
In Flander's fields

Chasing Bubbles

Have you ever looked out across an open field on a warm summer day and seen children chasing bubbles? Just as one reaches out to grasp the delicate spheres they burst. Sometimes a bubble may settle into an open palm for just a moment but quickly even gentle movement leaves the hand empty. Chasing bubbles may bring fleeting happiness, but they don't last.

A prayer in the Valley of Vision ( a collection of Puritan prayers) compares the things of this world to bubbles. Like children we chase wildly after our own pleasure. We abandon things that last for passing whims, selfish ambitions, and vain imaginations. The moment we think we have finally grasped the thing that would satisfy our desires the bubble burts leaving our hands empty. Solomon put it this way "Vanity of vanities all is vanity" the things of this world that some spend their entire lives striving after are empty.

As Christians we don't have to waste our lives chasing bubbles. We have been called to a higher task, a greater mission to glorify and enjoy the almighty God of the universe forever. When we chase after Him our hands will never be left empty; our joy will not be fleeting. The bubbles of this world distract and seek to tear our thoughts away from the awesome view of our loving Lord. In this life He is all that matters and we must fix our eyes on Him "the author and finisher of our faith." It is only with this focus that we can move past chasing bubbles and become more than conquerors in Christ.