Memorial Day Communion Prayer

Dear God,

Creator, Word, Love,

We give thanks and praise

For your goodness and mercy,

So undeserved.

We thank you for all those

Who, in all times,

Have been brave and true,

For those 

Who gave their lives

In their country's service.

Help us to be worthy

Of their supreme sacrifice.

We thank you, Jesus,

For your sacrifice.

May our faith stay strong,

That your kingdom come

And your will be done.

Amen.

Communion Statement on Memorial Day

How fitting on Memorial Day we come to the Memorial Table. When it is my opportunity to give the Communion Statement,I prefer to share something positive, something uplifting. I cannot today because on Memorial Day I remember my generations war,a war that claimed over 58,000 lives.  I remember Vietnam.  I remember a young man, just out of high school,wwho chose to volunteer instead of going to college or waiting for the draft.  He died on patrol one week after being deployed in Vietnam.\

On Memorial Day, we remember service men and women, who like my high school friend, gave their lives to secure and protect the freedom we have in this country.  As we come to the Lord's Table, we remember Christ gave his life for us. In remembrance, let us live to be his hands in this world today.

Memorial Day 2013

"I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear,
The Son of God discloses."

 Memorial Day comes again.

Reminding me that

Another friend died this year.
Another funeral.
Grief for his family,
He will be missed.
Grief stirred memories rise
As "In the Garden" wakes

Forgotten sorrow.

A time of loss.
Old friends and family gone
As the World War II generation fades.

Those born in the rural past
Die in the urban present.

Too many precious friends

 Left long ago

In my generation's war,

In Viet Nam.

Their graves stand as sentinels

To this nation's hubris.

Now a new generation,

Young, full of hope,

Face their wars:

Afghanistan.

Iraq.

So many have died,

So many continue to die.

Bow your head

 To the sorrow

Of so much death

And listen to Christ's words,

"Blessed are they that mourn;
For they shall be comforted."

Photo by *clarity*