Just the other day a man said to me as he was leaving my home: “Have a happy Memorial Day!”
I responded by asking him: “How can I be happy over the loss of so much life to wars?” My question startled him. It made him think. Memorial Day is not the time for the celebration of death caused by war. It is not a time for celebrating the virtues of nationalism!
Memorial Day is not a time for celebrating the horrific results of war; but rather, it is the time for lamenting our continued addiction to violence and war in the hopes that we can (on our own) create lasting peace.
Memorial Day is for mourning. It is for grieving. It is for lamenting the loss of all human life caused by war. It is a time for soul-searching and repentance—repentance from our own love of violence and war. It is a time for us to challenge the belief that war is the only and most noble way to resolve human conflicts. It is time for us to consider the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more."
