Photo by Min An
Today, let us not be torn apart by the strife of wondering if we love our country and if this country has the potential to uphold the ideals of democracy, or if it ever did. Let us leave our arguments about how the world’s most powerful country should be governed or not governed aside, forget our conflicting, changing feelings around what it has come to mean to be American, and let, for just a second, the resentment of military spending budgets that could feed the world several times over go.
Today, Memorial Day, is not about patriotism, or love of country, or even pride in country.
It’s about remembering the ones who were just doing their best with the information they had. The ones who had no choice, who went to war because it was what you did, or who wanted to get an education- no matter the cost. The ones who were humans, fighting other humans, gone too soon.
Today, in spite of what you believe about the state of our country, it is right to honor life. Life lived in dedication, in love, in service. You don’t have to honor what they were fighting for. Honor their lives and the people who miss them every day. Honor the sacrifices that were demanded of them, whether they were willingly given or not, expected or not. They were humans, and they died. That’s worth remembering, because if we forget the sanctity of human life, then we are truly lost.
Happy Memorial Day to both of my grandfathers and to all of those gone too soon, and to those left to remember them. May we all know peace.