A Memorial Day Vision

This coming Monday is Memorial Day, a federal holiday in the United States that honors those who died while serving in the country’s armed forces. It originated as Decoration Day after the American Civil War. On Decoration Day, survivors honored deceased Union soldiers by decorating their graves. A similar practice developed for those who died serving the Confederacy. Memorial Day became an official national holiday in 1971 and honors all men and women who have died during their military service.

Those who died are honored in a variety of ways. The National Memorial Day parade and concert are held annually in Washington, D.C., and many cities around the country hold similar observances. Decorating the graves of the fallen is a common practice as well. For example, it is traditional for the President to lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at Arlington National Cemetery and each of the graves there is decorated with an American flag on Memorial Day. While in Dallas, I lived a few years in a house where the yard adjoined a cemetery. Every year on Memorial Day families would gather there and have a cookout and picnic in honor of their loved ones. I thought it odd to have a picnic in a cemetery, but it was their way of paying homage.

I appreciate and deeply respect our desire to honor those who died in service to our country. At Unity Spiritual Center Denver it is traditional to have a candle lighting ceremony during our service the Sunday prior to Memorial Day. We will continue that tradition this year. It is good to recognize those who made the ultimate sacrifice as we light a candle in their honor or place flowers or a flag on their graves. While these traditions and celebrations are important, I further encourage each of us to go a little deeper this year.

I suggest that we can best honor those who died by doing all that we can, individually and collectively, to ensure that at some point in the not too distant future there is no need for a Memorial Day. Vision a world where there is no longer a person alive who remembers someone who died in war. You may think that this is the impossible dream, but it is not. Peace is possible, and it begins with you and with me. I am reminded of the following from the Lao Tze,

If there is to be peace in the world, there must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations, there must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities, there must be peace among neighbors.

If there is to be peace among neighbors, there must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home, there must be peace in the heart.

Peace in the world begins with peace in the heart. And, peace in the heart begins as each of us remembers and claims the truth of who we are as unique and wondrous expressions of Love. And, when we remember it for ourselves and truly embrace that knowing, we also know it for each other and for all life. When we know that all is an expression of Love, we know our unity with all creation. We know ourselves as God expressing. God cannot be in conflict with itself.

Conflict can only occur in a mind that believes in the possibly of separation. When we think we are separate from God, we naturally feel fear. When we feel fear, we believe we have to protect ourselves. But, who is the ‘self’ that we are protecting? The ‘self’ we would protect is the illusory self that in truth only exists in our minds. When we believe in the illusory self, we tend to fight to protect who we think we are, or what we think is ours.

Conflict cannot occur in the heart, because the heart knows unity with God. When we surrender our minds to our hearts and allow thoughts and actions to be inspired from the heart, we think, speak and act from love. When we speak, think, and act from love there is no ‘me’ or ‘mine;’ there is only ‘we’ and ‘ours.’ War happens in the space of a belief in ‘me’ and ‘mine,’ and ‘us’ and ‘them.’

In Truth there is only One and that One does not know ‘me,’ ‘mine,’ ‘us’ or ‘them.’ The One only knows itself as ‘I Am that I Am.’ When we know our True Selves as that and all others as that as well, there is no conflict, thus there is no war.

To assist in knowing peace in the heart, I offer the following:

Begin by saying aloud or in the silence of your own mind, “I Am that I Am.” As you use the power of the “I Am” to make this proclamation, you affirm the knowing of your heart and align your mind to Truth. This statement declares your unity in God, and restores peace to your mind.

In that alignment, choose to witness that same Truth for all others. As you walk about in your day, silently witness others by saying to yourself “I Am. You are I Am.” In doing this, you are calling yourself to the remembrance of your unity with all of humanity. Additionally, you are calling others into remembrance as well.

This Memorial Day let us come together to honor those who have died in service to freedom and peace by claiming freedom and peace in our minds as we choose to know and proclaim our unity in God and with all creation. Let us be the ones who bring peace to the world by first knowing peace in our hearts.

Join us on Sunday at 10:00 as we honor those who have died in service to our country and hold the vision for a world where a Memorial Day is a distant memory.