Memorial Day (2015)
Lord, sometime this weekend,
despite all the distractions –
the blow-out sales,
no cash down,
no interest to pay;
our favorite war-time movies,
an all-star cast,
paid to pretend;
cookouts, reunions,
fireworks, days off.
Stop us.
Remind us.
Because, truth be told –
and the truth is hard to find:
We don’t want to remember
the real cost and cast of war,
the self-sacrifice of dog-tags.
The price is too high,
sticker-shock too painful;
our sons and daughters
who leave home,
and they never return,
not the people we knew.
Life-long battle scars,
pain that never stops;
memories that cannot
be erased or forgotten –
no matter what they do.
This is the real price
for all the sales today;
everything paid up front,
interest accrued for life.
Oh God, please bring the day
you promised years ago;
when swords are made into plows,
guns exchanged for water wells;
when we will no longer teach war
but settle disputes in peace.*
Please Lord, the price for war
is too high,
no one can pay
the price for a Memorial Day.
Amen
—
*Micah 4:2-4
Limited permission is granted for reuse of this prayer in worship or other venues. If printed in any form attribution must be given as "Glenn Pemberton, mosaicsite.org/glennpemberton." Special permission is required to print three or more of these prayers at one time in any form, print, electronic, etc., and must be secured by request at gdp05b@acu.edu.