This past weekend in the United States, the country paused to memorialize those who gave their lives on the battlefield. It’s a time for remembering the women and men who made the choice to fight for a cause. Now, irrespective of my—or our—views on the issues that led to war, I offer this as a tribute to the spirit of commitment that led so many to make the ultimate sacrifice.
Today, I find myself quietly drawn into that reflective space where memory and meaning meet. It is not the sound of drums or bugles that calls me, but a stillness—a hush of reverence for lives given, wholly and without return.
Memorial Day is not a celebration in the traditional sense. It is, rather, a collective breath held in honor. A day in which we acknowledge, with both sorrow and awe, the men and women who laid down their lives upon the altar of duty.
To give one’s life is not simply to lose it—it is to choose to spend it in a moment of unspeakable gravity. That choice, made by so many, leaves us humbled. And curious. What strength of soul compels one to step into the breach? What vision, what loyalty, what love?
Though the theatres of war may be many and their causes complex, what endures is the purity of that offering: a life, freely given.
This, I dare say, is a kind of sacred poetry—not in words, but in deed. It is the embodiment of devotion not in theory, but in action. Like the final verse of a song never sung aloud, yet echoing still in the hearts of those left
It is not enough, I think, to remember them. Memory alone is too fragile a vessel for so weighty a truth. We must live in response. Live as though their gift were not in vain. Live with purpose, humility, and grace.
We must be caretakers of the peace they died for. We must be stewards of justice, builders of hope. And if ever we wonder what to do in a world full of noise and division, perhaps the answer lies in this: to live lives worthy of their sacrifice.
For though the fever of life is now past for them, the spirit of their offering still speaks. And if we are quiet enough, we may hear it.
And answer.
