This year our Memorial Day is very special since we were in COVID prison at this time last year. Many cities and communities host parades each year with military personnel and members of various Veteran’s organizations. Memorial Day has its origins all the way back to the Civil War. It is the special time of remembering and giving honor to those who have fallen in battle. The historical oral tradition is that in May, 1868, General John A. Logan made a decree that May 30th would become a nationwide day of remembrance and that Americans should lay flowers and decorate the graves of over 620,000 men who died in the Civil War. The General stated, “The bodies of the fallen now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land.” According to tradition, passed down from generation to generation, General Logan picked May 30th because it was one of the rare dates that did not fall on the anniversary of a Civil War battle.

Some historians believe the date of May 30th was chosen to ensure that flowers across the country would be in full bloom. In the South, Decoration Sunday had been a tradition that seemed to merge with Memorial Day. Decoration Day lasted over 100 years, until 1968 when the Uniform Holiday Act of 1968 finally went into effect. This 1968 act moved Memorial Day from the traditional date of May 30th, regardless of the day of the week, to a set day, which would be the last Monday in May.

In the past few years, there may have been the blurring of the meaning of Memorial Day. There appears to be a loss of respect and honor for the fallen, replaced by the first long weekend of summer, with cookouts and start of summer vacations.

As a church, we must not forget the fallen that secured our religious freedom. They paid the price for us to be free!

ALL GAVE SOME, AND SOME GAVE ALL! You are loved,