Memorial Day 2016: How do we remember the fallen?

There is a wonderful children’s book by William Steig called the Magic Pebble.  In this story, there is a family of donkeys, their son Sylvester loves to collect rocks of different and interesting shapes, sizes, and colors.  One spring day he finds a round, red pebble, and to his surprise, discovers this pebble has the magical power to grant wishes, but the magic pebble only works when the one making the wish is in contact with it.  When a hungry lion threatens Sylvester, he quickly wishes to turn into a rock, something the lion cannot eat.  But then, he cannot pick up the pebble to turn himself back into a donkey.

He despairs, his parents despair and lose all hope.  The seasons change and one day it is spring again and Sylvester’s parents decide to have a picnic, even though they are still terribly sad, they want to get outside and they set up their picnic on the rock that is Sylvester.  Sylvester’s father notices the red magic pebble and when he is holding it he wishes that his son would be there to add this special pebble to his collection.  In that moment, Sylvester the rock becomes Sylvester the donkey once again.  They go home happy together and keep the pebble in a safe should they ever wish to use it again, but for the moment, most important is that they are together and happy as a family again.

When I read the magic pebble story again this week I noticed a connection between this story of sadness and loss and a loved one becoming a stone and the way we remember and mourn our soldiers who gave their lives in the fight for freedom, soldiers for whom we mark their graves with a stone, often a simple white stone. 

This past year, 22 American soldiers died in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, so far 3 have died in 2016 in that operation.

There is tragically no magic pebble that can revive them.  The best we can do is make Memorial Day a meaningful day of reflection so that we can take inspiration from their sacrifice in the work that we do to strengthen our communities and our country.

Memorial Day, like other military related holidays, may not speak directly to us, to those of us who are not veterans or families without veterans or other military experience or connections.  The same can be said for Veterans Day. 

Memorial Day means a Monday holiday, barbecues, and sales at local stores.  Our freedom to enjoy these benefits comes with the price of lives lost in the line of duty.  While none of us can speak for the fallen, I would hope their spirits would take pleasure in seeing us able to live out our lives with the promise that around the world our soldiers continue to protect our freedom and the freedom that others may have or that they wish to have.

How can we experience a more meaningful Memorial Day?  We can join together to remember and celebrate our soldiers and veterans at the local Memorial Day parade, there is one happening Monday morning in Syosset – and I invite everyone to join me there.  We can purchase a red poppy to support local VFW and American Legion veterans organizations.  We can visit the military cemetery in Farmingdale, notable for its simple white stones, and say a prayer, leave flowers in memory of the fallen, and perhaps recite the World War 1 era poem by John Mc Crae that inspired the red poppy in the first place:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place, and in the sky,

The larks, still bravely singing, fly,

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead; short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe!

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high!

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

His poem moved Moina Michael to write in 1918:

Oh! you who sleep in Flanders Fields,

Sleep sweet - to rise anew!

We caught the torch you threw

And holding high, we keep the Faith

With All who died.

We cherish, too, the poppy red

That grows on fields where valor led;

It seems to signal to the skies

That blood of heroes never dies,

But lends a lustre to the red

Of the flower that blooms above the dead

In Flanders Fields.

And now the Torch and Poppy Red

We wear in honor of our dead.

Fear not that ye have died for naught;

We'll teach the lesson that ye wrought

In Flanders Fields.

And let us not forget the immortal words of King David reflecting on the death of his great friend Jonathan and Jonathan’s father Saul.

“A gazelle[a] lies slain on your heights, Israel.

    How the mighty have fallen! Eych naflu giborim…

As we continue to count the Omer 7 weeks of 7 days, and as we approach memorial day, we’ve read today about the Yovel, the Jubilee, the 50^th year after 7 cycles of 7 years. 

During this time of counting the omer, we remember the heroes of ancient Israel, Rabbi Akiva and his students whom the Romans slaughtered at the time of the Bar Kochba revolt.  This time of year is a time of mourning, just as Memorial Day is for us a day of mourning. 

The Jubilee spoken of in our parsha is a time when the cycles of working the land for almost a half century stops, land reverts to its original owners, and all slaves go free. 

We will stand in silent meditation and remembrance on Monday for the soldiers who fought to enable us to live out the Jubilee that is our lives, that we have the opportunities to make the most of our lives, to face our own challenges personal, family and otherwise with the comfort of knowing that there are those who are watching out for us around the world.

May the memories of the fallen inspire us to stand up a bit straighter and more confident.  Amen.