“Wasted Good for Nothing Heritage”
*first posted on “Garbage Truck” November, 2001
…the memory of the just is blessed.–Proverbs 10:7
Two great national days of recognition are held in November. Both are far too neglected. Both are passed over in lieu of the earlier and earlier arrival of Christmas. Both Veterans Day and Thanksgiving Day are holidays of character, for they both must be observed on purpose, and their existence is dependent on true Christian charity and acts from a pure and noble heart. Perhaps that is why they get so little attention in comparison to Christmas and even Easter.
Every year, our church hosts an evening service and dinner in recognition for any veterans in our congregation and any guests who come to visit us. It is always held on November 11 no matter the day of the week and usually attracts a good number of our honoured military personnel. Every year the veterans are profoundly grateful and every year a few of them come to Christ. And every year many leave scratching their heads as to why other churches do not have similar activities.
This year it was a little better, as the United Methodists and Lutherans in our town are having a special service we suppose because of the ill effects of September 11. I predict things will be back to sad normal by next year.
Here is the garbage of it all…Americans do not seem to care about their heritage. If we did we wouldn’t forsake our Veterans Day parades and ignore countless heroes of the 20th century as they rot in nursing homes and broken down VA hospitals. If we did care, we wouldn’t stand back and watch drunken whoremongering entertainers rewrite the stories of the founders of our nation without protest.
Just as pertinent, if we did care about our Christian heritage we wouldn’t remain silent while webmasters and so-called historians assassinate the character of men like Roger Williams, Isaac Backus, et.al., [see Marsall and Manuel’s The Light and the Glory] and lump Bible believing Baptists with Nazis and “Jackboots”. [see this link if you think I am kidding.]
I am glad for those that care–someone has to…lest the memory of just will no longer be….existent.
James Beller