REMEMBERING....

Memorial Day was a time to remember, and like many of you, I did remember with gratitude all the soldiers, sailors, and airmen who have made sacrifices for us. I also remembered some of my ancestors who are buried in a cemetery somewhere. I even took a little time to remember things of days gone by, days of youth when we didn't worry about immigration, oil spills, deployment or health insurance.

Do you remember when we played hide and seek at dusk, and ate Mom's fresh carmel rolls or warm buttered bread and jelly and didn't feel guilty? Do you recall playing with cousins, running through sprinklers, catching lightening bugs, sitting on the porch with friends and playing Cowboys and Indians? Do you remember penny candy, hopscotch, push lawn mowers, doing the chores, eating liverwurst sandwiches, or playing dodgeball? Did you lick the egg beaters when Mom made a cake, or watched a car audometer turn over at 100,000 miles, or laughed so hard at your friends' silly jokes that your stomach hurt?

I can remember when nearly everyone's Mom was at home after school, a quarter was a decent allowance, and everyone picked up a penny. I can also remember country school, gathering eggs and licking green stamps. It doesn't seem long ago that gay meant a good time, Mom made dish towels out of 50 lb. flour sacks, laundry detergent came with a free glass inside, or it was a great privilege go to a restaurant with your parents. I actually do recall the last time someone filled my car with gas, washed the windshield and checked the oil! I can still feel the fear of being sent to the principal's office, but that was nothing compared to getting a switch from my Dad!

Memorial Day this year brought back memories. Of course, we have also forgotten all the flies, sweat, cleaning barns, race riots, flat tires, and snowy TV. We have replaced our fear of atomic bombs, being drafted and polio with fear of AIDs, terrorists and school shootings. Pastors are no longer the final word on the Bible, and Congress is no longer the final word on anything. 

But we do not live in the past and we should be glad for it. God is so very good to us today, with blessings unimagined a few decades ago. Today we are blessed with living longer and more leisurely, and we take for granted cheaper and better clothing, better communication, better roads, wonderful medicines and fine homes. Despite the cynacism of academia, it's a joy to read of intellects acknowledging God. Despite some churches adopting teachings contrary to the Bible, more laymen are reading God's Word and finding eternal life in its pages. And for all this, I say:

"O Give thanks to the Lord, for He is Good; His love endures forever."