When Holidays were Hallowed

There was a time in American history, in world history, when holiday

weren’t just days you got off work and big stores had sales.  We’ve become so commercialized that retailers target every major holiday with specialized advertising.  Memorial Day isn’t about barbeque, Macy’s, or getting a new car.  It is about honoring those who have died in service to this country by setting aside a day to remember them, a full day out of every 365; that is 0.27% of our year, I think we should be able to spare that.

I always hear about a war on Christmas, which leads me to believe people don’t know the definition of “war”, Memorial Day seems an appropriate time to ponder that one.  I think that greater than attacks on any one holiday is the general apathy towards holidays, tradition, and history that many in our society have.

A day consecrated for a singular purpose, this is the basest definition of “holiday” I can come up with.  What is the purpose of Memorial Day?  Have you ever really thought about it?  Have you thought about what it would be like to walk on the beaches of Normandy, where man after man was cut down fighting for people on a continent he had never been to before?  How about what it would be like to have been captured by the Viet Cong and tortured to death?  Or to be the family member of Travis A. Morgado who was killed last week in Kandahar?  So often we don’t really think about things that haven’t affected us directly in some profound way.

Don’t let this Memorial Day be just another Monday you got off work, let it bewhat it was meant to be, a time of reflection.

To find out more about Memorial Day check out www.usmemorialday.org.