Dearly beloved,

This weekend is Memorial day weekend. For many it is the unofficial start of the summer with the long weekend. Businesses use it as an opportunity for special sales and promotions

Yet, for me personally and for many others, Memorial day is when I remember my father, Charles J. Manske who died in Vietnam on May 24, 1969. He was a captain and pilot in the Air Force and his plane went down in the South China Sea. His body was never recovered though parts of the plane were found.

I don’t have my own memories of him. I have what I call “borrowed memories” from my mother, his family and a few of his fellow soldiers who have sent us their memories over the years. I still mourn not only his death but all the years that were lost because of that day and that war.

Memorial day sprouted in the days and months following the end of the Civil War. In Charleston, SC, newly freed slaves decorated the mass grave of Union soldiers who died in captivity. In Columbus, MS, women laid flowers on the graces of both Union & Confederate soldiers. Following World War One, poppies became a symbol of remembrance for those killed during the war (the poem “Flanders field” written by John McRae). Artificial poppies are still sold as a way to support veterans in many countries.

For me, spending time to remember someone is not only a way to honor their lives, but also to feel their love within me. While I am not remember my dad, I have been told of his love for me and all of my family. Their words and their memories radiate his love.

Can we not say this even more for God’s love?! Just as we do not have the same experiences as did those first disciples – from their witness and their memories of Jesus, God’s love has been passed down through the years. Love, as St. Paul’s writes to the Corinthians, never ends, it never fades or disappears. Love only grows the more that it is shared. God’s love blossoms like those poppies that adorn our lapels this Memorial day weekend. It is God’s love revealed and shared through us that bursts forth in this world.

And so as we remember those who served and died for the sake of freedom, let us remember also the love that birthed and sustained them through their loves as well as the love that they shared and that we continue to share because of God.

peace in Christ,

Pastor Jen