Memorial Day

I have been in PA since Friday and will combine my Remember post with today's Memorial Day reflection. My aunt, Rev. Connie Gibbs, wrote the following poem:

WE Must Remember
--Rev. Connie Gibbs

We pause on this Memorial Day, a brief moment in time,
to bring close to our hearts those memories we hold so dear
of the men and women before us who unselfishly put their dreams,
and their lives on the line, where danger lay as a stalker,
waiting to take away each breath,
while the soldier plowed with determination the furrows of death.

We must remember, we must, you and I, those special heroes who chose to
fly through the skies of blue that turned as dark as the midnight sky.
Their wings began to shudder as smoke choked their breath away,
And hope gave way to the resignation, “Today, I’m going to die.”

Treading waters so deep and wide, for God and Country, their hearts abide.
Surprised by attacks with brutal disregard for human life,
they fought to the end, knowing that life and limb would be lost,
whether of self or friend.

Yes, by land, by sea, and in the skies, they fought for our land,
Fighting for freedom so that you and I might stand,
Stand for what is right, for what is good and true, fight that we might
say without fear, “God loves you.”

Yes, we must remember for freedom is not cheap,
for lives and limbs were lost so that we might keep, all the things that we
have and all the things that we do,
Like cars and boats and a house with a roof. Like going to church without fear,
And reading the Bible where we find the truth. The truth of knowing that whether
We are red, yellow, black or white, we are all God’s children and we need to learn to
Love one another as God first loved us.
For if there is to be peace on earth, where all of humankind is free, it must begin with each of us, let it begin with you and with me.