Do You Remember?

"L" comes before "M;" yet Memorial Day comes before Labor Day.  So goes a trick I devised to help me remember which holiday occurs in May and which in September.  To that confusion, I add another.  For me, Memorial Day marks the final day of my family's tradition of smelling like smoke and not bathing for 3 or 4 days (otherwise known as camping).  On Memorial Day, we unpack the truck, store the canoe, and take showers.  We do much; but very little, if any "memorializing."  The day set aside to remember those men and women who died serving our country is, in our house, clean-up day.  

Like our nation, the Church keeps a calendar and reserves dates for celebration and memorials.  Advent.  Christmas Eve.  Good Friday.  Easter.  And, like me, men and women enjoy those days with family meals, lit candles, presents, eggs, and the like.  But . . . do we remember the original meaning of those days?  

A soldier died.  So did the Savior.
An earthly battle was fought.  So was a spiritual one.
Victory came at great price - at Normandy . . . at Calvary.
Freedom isn't free.  Salvation was costly.

This year I decided to dedicate time on Memorial Day to do as its name suggests.  If you missed that opportunity, it's not too late.  You don't need to wait until next year.  

Neither do you need to wait for Advent, or Christmas, or Easter.  In five days, visit a church.  Go, sing, listen, look, celebrate Jesus and . . . Remember.