Reaching out from Grand Lake Community Chapel
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Greetings in Christ!
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it! Let us rejoice in a warm (albeit overcast) spring morning, and let us be glad for the upcoming Memorial Day holiday. Let us rejoice that old friends are beginning to return to Northern Michigan for “the season,” and let us be glad that we are blessed with the opportunity to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf, so that the blessings of freedom have been ours to enjoy for 248 years.
As we prepare to step into summer, it’s helpful to look back on the seasons that came before and to remember some of the challenges and joys of winter and spring. We had a relatively mild winter, but still we had snow to shovel and ice to negotiate. Spring came in fits and starts, with mild days followed by hard freezes that put fear into the hearts of those of us who enjoy gardening. On the cusp of a new season, summer promises us warmer, longer days in this amazing place we call home, yet there will be storms to contend with. In a similar way, as we look forward to a long holiday weekend, it’s helpful to remember why we celebrate Memorial Day; it is a day to remember. Even though the holiday has become something of a “standard” long weekend, replete with furniture sales, family picnics, parades, and speeches by politicians, the reason we observe Memorial Day is far too important to forget. And forget we have; this weekend isn’t a time to honor all who served – every day is a time to honor those who served. This is a time to remember and honor those who died in service of our country. This is a time to remember and honor their families, who forever have an empty space at the dinner table, whose hearts forever have an empty space that looks very much like their loved one who paid the highest price of all. This is a time to give thanks to God that there are those among us who are willing to meet Jesus’ standard for friendship; that they are willing to lay their lives down for another. This is time to ask God to hold those who lost their lives close in his arms, and to ask God to hold their loved ones in those same arms. Memorial Day is a day of remembrance; and so let us remember, let us give thanks, and let us pray for peace, so that no more names will be added to the rolls of the honored dead. Celebrate the day, to be sure. But start the day by remembering.
Blessings,
Karen and Greg
Home: (989) 474-9116, Cell: (734) 502-5969
revgregrc@yahoo.com / revgreggl@yahoo.com
revkarenrc@yahoo.com / revkarengl@yahoo.com
“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.” Romans 12:10
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