Once again we attended a festive band concert to honor our country’s July 4th celebration, and once more, one of the featured pieces played was a time to honor our veterans with the special tunes for the Marines, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine, and now Space Force. The audience clapped for each veteran as he/she arose at the appropriate time. One veteran was ninety-four years old, and struggled to stand. The conductor, the awesome Aaron Collins of the Space Coast Symphony’s wind ensemble, roamed the audience, shaking hands of the veterans and honoring th.
After listening to the Presidential debate the other night, hearing comments about our veterans, and after recently publishing the Glenbrooke Senior Living memoir anthology which includes the story of one of our veterans who recently was on an honor flight to Washington, D.C., I have a heightened sense of duty to honor those who have served us in the military. I’m completing a novel called Mom’s Tender Touch. Sarah, the heroine, is the widow of a young soldier, Darren, killed in Afghanistan. My son recently took his family to Washington, D.C. where they visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and Arlington Cemetery, and saw many of the memorials and paintings and tributes to our rich heritage in America.
As we prepare to celebrate our country’s birthday this week, may we pray for her safety, for its people, for our influence in the world, and for sanity to return to common discourse and the wrangling in this election year. May we gain the perspective that long term, America is indeed man’s best idea for self-government, yet seems to be losing its sense of direction. Way back in Proverbs in the Bible we are told: “Godliness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. When the ways of people please the Lord, He makes even their enemies live at peace with them.” (Proverbs 14:34; 16:7) It seems today our enemies may be within.
Let us pray for peace, for the peace of Jerusalem, for peace in Ukraine, and for America to resume leadership in the world so that all men and women may know freedom from want, freedom for access to truth, for opportunities for becoming all they can become, and for justice. And as the world gathers for the Olympics this month, may there be a developing understanding and appreciation for people from all nations as they gather together for the Games.
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