Taking Time to Remember--by Linden Malki

   

"Foursquare and seven years ago our Forefathers brought forth a new nation."  At one time, schoolchildren were encouraged to memorize this speech, which was originally given at the dedication of a military cemetery at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

 At that time, the war that created the need for the cemetery, was still in progress.  One thing that was unique in American history about this war, was that it was going between American and American, and one of the underlying concepts was a speech by the same speaker, Abraham Lincoln, two years before he became President: but was already a guiding principle in his political life: a quotation from the Gospel, "A house divided against itself cannot stand."

 There were several issues going on behind the stress that threatened the unity of a country that was different than any other nation; they included slavery and its possible spread; trade policies, and old-fashioned power struggles. We all know who won, and the price paid by Lincoln himself, and that there are still some of the same issues still haunting us. But one thing that came out of this war was the growth of a tradition, originally something that became a habit with the families of those who had also lost their lives in this war.  It was on a variety of days originally, usually on an annual basis, but once a year the families would go to cemeteries, especially military ones, and bring flowers and other decorations to honor their fathers, and brothers, and later grandfathers, who had fallen in the "War Between the States." The first official celebration,  put together by a Union general was held in Waterloo, New York, on May 30. In 1868, it moved to  Arlington National Cemetery. There have always been local celebrations on various days as well. It was expanded to include the World War I, and then all war dead before and after. It was originally called "Decoration Day" until  it was officially called Memorial Day and moved to the fourth Monday in May.

Wars have always been part of human society; we seem to have a tendency to solve problems the messy way. There have been political movements to "outlaw war", but the universal tendency of people to be stubborn, greedy, and generally difficult to get along has been a problem. Even the Bible describes wars, most of which were caused by quarrels, rivalries, idolatry, and the same things we still see today, and the tough choices are usually situations where people are causing trouble which cannot be tolerated. We know that if everyone were to follow the commands of God, the love of God, and appreciate the blessings of God, we could live in peace--which will happen when God takes control of situations that we have not dealt with well.