Thank You, I REMEMBER

No matter what you may believe about war, today is a day to think on 1 Corinthians 13:1 which states “What if I could speak all languages of humans and of angels?  If I did not love others I would be nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” 

To put this plainly, for the purpose of my post today I will ask you to think about this -

someone died for your freedom. 

Today is the day to think about this.  Even if you feel strongly that there should not be wars - our history is founded on the fact there were. People you don’t even know gave their lives hoping that that you would experience freedom through their sacrifice.  So today I hope you feel love for these (sometimes unknown and unrecognised) people gave their lives for you.  Out of love. 

Surely if it were your friend, today, who saved your life by doing whatever it took if they thought you were threatened, you would experience a love unlike any other.  A love that is made up of awe (that they would so willingly trade their lives for yours) respect and a bond (we stand together)  No choice ever comes without having to give something up.  Its difficult, its messy its sometimes easier to stand on the line than take a choice. 

I have the privilege of living in a country where we have such freedom.  Because of this freedom and freedom of speech and being blasted with news on every device we own it would be easy to watch the news and condemn others for entering into wars.  But because my own life has never been touched in this way how can I possibly judge others?  There have always been wars, I’m afraid there always will be. 

I believe I’m to simply LOVE - to honor those who stepped right into their convictions (and some did not even have a choice!) and gave up everything, for our Country, for you, for me. Today is a day for us to remember. 

As a Christian I know that Jesus gave His life for me  so that I can live a life of freedom and choice.

John 3:16 (CEV) “for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son so that everyone who has faith in Him will have eternal life and will never really die 

I too surrender all to HIM in this sacrifice, and pray for a heart of love that I may always appreciate and live in this gift every moment. 

Today, I thank God for every person who stands on the freedom I have today.  I pray for them, their families and for the world today. I pray for those “out there” fighting at this very moment while standing on the hope of world peace.   Perhaps today to a degree we may think peace is a new kind of war in itself, for we are taught that love conquers all but we need to also keep our eyes and ears open and be willing to understand how it is all to unfold around us with an open mind.  And we need to be thankful that those before us took their choice - for us. 

I will leave you with this link from The Star newspaper which has a terrific article about Veteran’s Day and an interactive map where you can learn about a FREE ipad App called “The Fallen” where you can find the stories behind 118,000 fallen soldiers around the world. 

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I hope you will take a minute of silence today to ponder.