Memorial Day prompts sadness, hope
By Bishop Woodie W. White
The flag had been lifted from the coffin as it was lowered into the ground. With precision and in military fashion, the flag was folded and then given to my grieving mother with whispered condolences that even I could not hear, though I was seated next to her.
The act was in keeping with the practice of presenting the flag to a surviving spouse or next of kin of a veteran or one whose life was lost while serving in the military.
My mother immediately turned and gave the flag to me. When I returned the flag to her later, thinking she had given it to me only for safekeeping, she said she wanted me to have it. So it has been a valued possession ever since.
It is in a special place and holds many memories and meanings.
On May 29, our nation will observe its National Day of Remembrance. We shall remember our honored dead who gave their lives while serving in the nation's military. We shall also remember and give thanks for all those who presented themselves for this special service to country. Some returned wounded physically and mentally. Such service is not without costs!
The nation will remember with prayers, parades and picnics. Some will remember as they visit hallowed and sacred ground where the fallen now rest. They will leave flowers, memories and tears.
I will remember as well. With mixed emotions. I will go to my special place. I will participate in my special litany of remembrance as I take that precious flag in hand. Alone, I will remember.
I will remember with a special sadness and bewilderment for why leaders still have not found peaceful ways to settle national, international and regional disputes. I will ask again why war has not become obsolete. Why people must be lost and lands destroyed. Why diplomacy, reason and compromise cannot be the tools of peacemaking and peacekeeping.
With flag held, I will remember contradiction of country. Ideal and practice.
In 1944, An American Dilemma, a classic work by Swedish social scientist Gunnar Myrdal, pointed out the contradiction between the American ideal of freedom and justice for all, and the nation's sanction of systemic racism manifested in discrimination and segregation.
Indeed the flag held, and the one for whom it was given, served in segregated armed forces! Fighting for freedom in segregated units! Contradiction.
I will remember the pain of those who answered their country's call to safeguard liberty and freedom, only to be denied their own -- or receive them piecemeal -- when they returned.
While holding that precious flag carefully, I will acknowledge with gratitude that the harsh realities of a Jim Crow America are gone, though replaced with subtleties of racism and prejudice that remain too much a part of the nation's landscape.
I will give thanks for all who believed in their hearts in the ideals of freedom and justice for all, and sacrificed much for it. That flag will remind me.
Alone with flag, memories, dreams and hopes, I will give thanks for every effort made to bring the nation closer to its ideal. For people and leaders of goodwill and courage. For those who value justice for all. The flag will remind.
But I will pray for forgiveness for every act, decision and policy at home and abroad that has devalued and diminished persons, or destroyed God's good earth.
When my time with flag and memories has ended, I will return "my" flag to its special place. I will ask God to bless and correct my land, its people and leaders, that we might be a blessing to the world.
And I imagine that in some distant land, there are others holding a different flag, offering the same prayer to the same God.
Copyright 2006 United Methodist Reporter. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Retired United Methodist Bishop Woodie W. White currently serves as bishop-in-resident at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, Ga.