I was asked to speak at the Memorial Day service at the Siloam Baptist Church in Abbeville on Sunday morning.
Here is an excerpt of what I had to say:
OK, I’ll admit it. On Sunday mornings, I don’t always listen to every word the preacher says. I once heard listening to a sermon compared to driving down the interstate with the radio on. Sometimes you go under a bridge, and you lose the signal.
It’s not necessarily the preacher. Or what he has to say. It’s just that I’m a planner. My brain never stops working. I have an internal calendar between my two ears. My thoughts sometimes drift away to a place where I plan where I’m going to be next, what I need to do and who I need to be with.
No, I’m not going to be sitting on the edge of my pew, hanging on every word. I’m about 90 percent there. Or maybe 83 percent there. Or perhaps 77 percent there. It’s a good thing the preacher doesn’t give a pop test at the end of his sermon. I would probably make a C-plus, maybe a B-minus if they graded on a curve.
So today, if I were out there in in the congregation of this wonderful little country church, I would probably be thinking about what I’m having for lunch today. Or maybe planning to watch the baseball game this afternoon. Or cutting the grass if it would ever stop raining long enough for me to start the lawn mower.
I would be thinking about tomorrow, too. After all, I have the day off. I don’t have to go to work. It’s a holiday. It’s Memorial Day.
It’s a day we remember those who gave their lives to defend our freedoms. Freedom is not free, and many of the brave men and women in the Armed Forces have paid the ultimate sacrifice.
We are enjoying one of those freedoms right now. Freedom of Worship.
So what have we planned to do for Monday, on Memorial Day? Some of us will pause to pay tribute. We might attend a special service or time of remembrance. We will salute the flag, put our hand over our hearts and say a prayer.
But do you know what the vast majority of Americans are going to do? They are going to sleep late? Go to the lake. Grill hamburgers in the backyard. Go to the mall and catch a Memorial Day sale.
Sadly, too many of us treat Memorial Day as just another day. It has lost its meaning, if it ever even had it.
So on this Memorial Day, please take time to reflect and remember.
We are here because they were there.
