Something About Nothing, By Julie Seedorf

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Monday. Send email to her at hermionyvidaliabooks@gmail.com. Her Facebook page is http://www.facebook.com/julie.

Memorial Day 2016. Today I feel like preachers must feel when they preach about the same text over and over again in church and have to find a new way to spin the Gospel to interest their congregation in learning more about scripture. My column always falls on a Monday, and since I have written about Memorial Day for many years, my mind is wondering what I can do to make you think about the meaning of today.

We all know Memorial Day, formerly known as Decoration Day, was established to honor all Americans who died while in military service. There are many visual reminders as we honor those Americans. Our communities are decorated with the American flag. Parades are held. Graves are visited and decorated with flowers. We remember the sacrifice of the men and women who gave their life for our country.

My message to you today is a challenge. As I think about my residence in this country I am thankful. I am thankful I was born to my American parents who were the son and daughter of immigrants. I am thankful I was born in this country. The world has changed and keeps changing since I was born. I am sure my parents lamented about the many changes they saw over their lifetime. I seem to remember them worrying about the state of their country especially during times of war and the Great Depression. But the one thing I know they never wavered about was being proud they were citizens of this country, knowing what their parents and ancestors went through in Europe before they immigrated to this country. As bad as they felt things might be in this country they always felt the freedoms they had here overshadowed anything that happened in their lives and the changes happening in this country. They knew what life back in the old country had been.

We seem to be an America of complaints. We complain about our country. We worry about the state of affairs when it comes to political choices and crime. We anguish about jobs and the economy and our own financial instability or financial wealth and through it all we have those men and women protecting our country and our freedom while we complain. I wonder how hard it must be for those men and women to put their life on the line for a country that many say is falling apart at the seams. At least, that is what the media has us believing and we hop on the bandwagon — yes I do, too — and complain right along with the media. Things never seem right. We seldom praise the country we live in.

This is my challenge. For today do nothing but praise our country and the fact that you live here. For today, say good things about our military people and their commitment to our safety. Be positive about our country for at least one day. On Memorial Day as a memorial to our service men and women who have lost their lives protecting us, give praise that you live in the United States. Don’t let their sacrifice or the sacrifice of their families get lost in the negativity our nation seems to be experiencing. Honor them and their families by letting them know we love our country and still give praise that we live here. Happy Memorial Day. And thank you to those that believed we were worth the fight.