Have you ever heard that quote attributed to Howard William Osterkamp? It’s a telling and dynamic expression of those who have served in our Armed Forces. This weekend, we celebrate Memorial Day, focusing on those who lost their lives in service to our great country. But the question is…why in the world would anyone ever knowingly sacrifice himself or herself for people they know, let alone people they don’t? The Bible tells us…
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” –Jesus
John 15:13
Jesus was very specific in what He defined as the truest expression of love between one person and another. But what does that mean? Simply put, this “greatest love” is the voluntary choice one makes to sacrifice everything in service to someone else…an act of selflessness offered even to the point of death. True, this alluded to what Jesus would eventually do for all of mankind on the cross (including you, but that’s another blog for another day), but this enigmatic willingness to forfeit one’s life to protect or serve someone else is also revealed in what the heart of this weekend represents…paying our highest respects to those who gave all they had.
Over the past 200+ years, our nation has seen this sacrificial kind of love demonstrated by the loss of over 650,000 American men and women (a conservative estimate from one source) through the selfless sacrifice of our military members all around the world. Warriors who day after day, entered into places of grave danger to protect not only the citizens of this great nation, but countless victims from nations they didn’t even know. That is true love in its purest form and is the reason Memorial Day has been observed in one form or another all the way back to the days following the Civil War.
So as you fire up the barbecue, cannonball into the pool and lay in the hammock watching fireflies this weekend, please don’t forget to recognize and acknowledge these heroes of the past, knowing their calling was so much bigger than themselves. Their legacy serves as a shining example of what we desperately hope our rising generations will grasp and exemplify in the days to come…the belief that others should always come before ourselves. Happy Memorial Day, friends…
Landon <><
–Photo Credit: Justin Casey via unsplash.com
