I have, in the past, had ambiguous feelings about Memorial
Day. I see the need to have the ceremonies and fly the flag. I have memories of those who lost loved ones
in wars. One particularly poignant
memory has stayed with me through the years.
My mother got a call one day from some very good friends whose son was a
helicopter pilot in Vietnam – one of those guys who would drop down into the
jungle to pick up troops needing a way out.
He was scheduled to come home in two weeks, but instead of coming home
to celebrate with his parents, he was coming home in a casket to be buried by
them. He was the light of their lives,
their first born son. The family of this
young man was proud of him for his service, but so, so devastated by his loss. I
still remember the tears in my mother’s eyes as she took the call and learned
that the young man that she had babysat and watched grow up had been killed in
action. So while I understood the proud,
patriotic displays on Memorial Day, I was also deeply troubled by the fact that
we sent such young men (and now women) to war.
I
have been what you might call a wannabe pacifist. I say a “wannabe” because I think being a
true pacifist requires an attitude that I just never had. I resonate with much of the pacifists’ views. Pacifists hold on to the world view that
God's kingdom requires them to be peacemakers.
But even more than that,
they trust that God will bring about that kingdom. They argue that inactivity is a sign of deep
faith in the ability of God to work.
Pacifists do not run away from
evil; they are not those who run to Canada to escape the draft while living off
of Daddy's money. They are people who
use the weapons of the Spirit to combat evil:
prayer, fasting, voluntary poverty, refusing to return evil for
evil. Pacifists know that they will not
always be effective; that evil will sometimes (maybe even most times) strike
them down. But they are willing to be
struck down for the same reason that Christ was willing to go to the cross:
because they believe that love is the ultimate victory and Christ is the
ultimate victor.
I am
only a wannabe pacifist because while I might just possibly be able to allow
myself to be struck down, I am definitely not willing to see those I love
suffer if I have the chance to do something about it. I will use the weapons of the Spirit to
combat evil, but in this broken world I can’t see any way around using weapons of the world. Unless we as
Christians are willing to stand in front of the aggressors and die en masse for
what we believe, fighting evil with physical means seems the only option.
Even
in my wannabe pacifist days, I began to listen to those who had served in the
military. And from years of listening, I have learned something about those who
serve. For the most part, they are not in the service because they love
war. They do hope to gain benefits like
training, education, leadership skills, etc. But for the most part those who
serve in our armed forces are just as interested in peace as I am. In fact, most of those I have listened to
and talked with are in the military because they believe that their service
will make the world safer, more peaceful and less chaotic. Despite things like the My Lai massacre and
the Abu-Ghraib torture, most of the folks that I have talked to saw their “enemies”
as human beings, and grieved over the situation that led to war.
So on this Memorial Day, I will remember those who gave
their lives so that others could live. I
will honor their memory and fly that flag.
I still hate war and I am very glad that The United Methodist Church
works for peace. But I have to honor our
warriors, because, I think in their own way, they are working to be peacemakers
as well.
