Memorial Day Tribute

At our church this week we had a Memorial Day Tribute to veterans. It was so moving and that I decided to share some inspiring thoughts and photos:

 Causalities-

War of 1812:                20,000                            

The Civil War:            625,000

World War I:                116,516

World War II:              405,399

Korean war:                  36,516

Vietnam War:                58,209

Afghanistan:                   2,356

Iraq:                                4,489

 When we read about the sacrifice that so many people have made for the sake of freedom; often time the reality of the the hurt and pain that those left behind face can be far removed from our thoughts. These photos help put into perspective the true cost.

The battle Hymn of the Republic was written by Julia Howe during the Civil War...

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;

He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;

He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;

His truth is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps

They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;

I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps;

His day is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! His day is marching on.

I have read a fiery Gospel writ in burnished rows of steel;

“As ye deal with My contemners, so with you My grace shall deal”;

Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with His heel,

Since God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Since God is marching on.

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;

He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat;

Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet;

Our God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,

With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:

As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free;

While God is marching on.

                                                                      

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! While God is marching on.

He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,

He is wisdom to the mighty, He is honor to the brave;

So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of wrong His slave,

Our God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah! Our God is marching on.

 

Having complete trust in God's faithful care and protection is never easy in times of danger or strife. Yet even in the midst of the terrible Civil War between the Northern and Southern states, Julia Ward Howe proclaimed her confidence in God's triumphant power in this inspiring text. 

It was sung as a solo at a rally attended by President Abraham Lincoln. After the audience had responded with loud applause, the President, with tears in his eyes, cried out to sing it again, and it was sung again. And after more than a hundred and twenty years, Americans still join often in proclaiming, "Glory! Hallelujah! His truth is marching on!" 

It is my prayer and hope that each of us will also put our trust and confidence in God, as our nation goes through her present times of trouble, and we reflect on the words to this powerful song.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!