Monday, May 30, 2011

“But grief is not the end of all... I see beyond the forest the moving banners of a hidden column. Our dead brothers still live for us, and bid us think of life, not death--of life to which in their youth they lend the passion and joy of the spring. As I listen, the great chorus of life and joy begins again, and amid the awful orchestra of seen and unseen powers and destinies of good and evil our trumpets sound once more a note of daring, hope, and will.” Oliver Holmes, Jr.



Memories have become harder and harder to keep pure of my own imagination but there is one untouched memory in particular that I woke up with today. It was of David and I on the phone while he was on the beginning of his first tour in Iraq in 2005. I was at my parents house, pacing the floors of my old room while trying to deal with the 10 second delay on the phone. We were talking and laughing about silly things when in a brief moment of silence David asked, “Babe? Do you think they’ll forget me?” My heart instantly fell to the floor. “Forget you? Who?” “I don’t know... Everyone. Do you think they’ll forget that I’m here?” “I don’t think that’s possible, David. They won’t forget you. I wouldn’t let them.” He was in Iraq. And his worry was about being forgotten.

Even though the sacrifice given by our young American heros will be forever engraved into my soul, I wish that every story behind the sacrifice can be etched into my heart but there are too many... Although, today is just like any other day for me and families like mine, it’s a day for everyone else a chance to help us. Help us celebrate lives of bravery, perseverance, honor and sacrifice. Today is about the life lived and the future sacrificed so that we may have the chance to honor a nation with our own legacy.

So, under the beaming sun and brilliant blue sky, amongst the cook outs, hikes and shopping sales... Help us not forget. Join us in remembering the way brave men lived their life. Selflessly.

3 comments:

Boo said...

I just lit a candle for you and David ... and Kim and Warren. Deepest respect. I cannot find the words but I know what I feel. I shall never forget x

Anonymous said...

I check your blog a lot. Just an army brat, a fiancé to someone who comes and goes a lot. I remember. I think of you often and don't even know you. I tell people your story. You and your husband are not forgotten.

AntiSatan said...

God has been the difference in my own life during times of loneliness, heartbreak, and pain. I know too well what it means of not getting encouraged by others and the hurt that comes from that. I've found that only God always offer encouragement and hope, much better than any human can offer. I can only imagine how it feels to be widowed. I have the taste of having an emotional tie broken- I've gotten dumped in the past and it's hurt me so much in the past. The Bible teaches that a sexual relationship (whether marital or premarital) results in the man and woman becoming one body (refer to 1 Corinthians 6:16). I think this bond resonates to the spiritual level of their souls. I believe that even an emotional involvement (without having sex) also creates emotional ties, but probably to a lesser degree than sexual ties (which unites them as one body in a spiritual sense). Our bodies are connected with our inner being (soul, spirit, heart and mind). When our brain forms memories of things we are fond of (people, places, objects, etc.), our bodies long for those things when they are taken away from us. This physical longing resonates to our inner being. It’s all quite complex and mysterious of how our physical body and inner being operate in relation to each other. Rejection and abandonment are all painful things. King Solomon said that everything in this world is vanity, everything is meaningless- a chasing after the wind. Eventually whatever we gain in this world (relationships, success, wealth), we lose them all at some point. There is something you can never lose though- God. God surpasses everything in our lives. Our thirsting for things in this world (especially human relationships) is evidence that we need something greater than those things to satisfy us because everything except God will end up failing you in some way. God has promised us that He will never leave us nor forsake us. God can't die on us and leave us in a state of loneliness. God won't cheat on us, dump us and go off with someone else. Whenever you feel lonely or feel that you're missing something in your life- realize that God wants to fill that void in your life. So many times I've been ignorant about the Bible. We're trained from our birth to live by our senses- thus we look to perceive God with those senses. Most of the time, we can't perceive God with our senses as He is a spiritual being. God has wanted me to develop my spiritual senses and rely on His word (the Bible) to experience Him. I've learned to always see God's word as alive, powerful, and relevant for each day. When I've failed to see that in the past, it's robbed me so much joy and peace. I've learned to look at the Bible as a powerful and active gateway/portal to God. We can try to occupy our minds with so many different things in this world to try and fill the void in our lives or suppress the pain, but all of those things will keep us still hungry and thirsty. God has promised us that if we reach out to Him, He will give us rest, quench our thirst, and satisfy our hunger. If you haven't done that, I hope you will give God a chance. 1 Corinthians 6:17 states that the one who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. I think human relationships bond us in a powerful way (which is complex to understand), however, the Bible says that we can also be joined to God through our spirit (inner being), which I believe is even more powerful as God is the ultimate partner. God is an invisible Spirit who doesn’t have a physical body like we have. We have both a physical (the visible physical body) and spiritual component (invisible spiritual inner being). Hence, we need to seek out God with our spirit and be joined to Him as one spirit.