To many Americans, Memorial Day is the day summer officially begins.. a day to have picnics, barbecues, and the local pools open. For some, it's a day of shopping for sales.
It actually has nothing to do with these things, but is a day set aside annually to honor those who have given their lives in war to preserve our freedom- lest we forget the great sacrifice they have made. Lest we forget that freedom is not free.
We are asked to devote only one moment of silence at 3pm your time across the nation on Memorial Day. Do not grieve that these brave soldiers have died, but thank the Lord that they lived. A moment of silence is all that is asked. A moment of prayer to thank the Lord for their lives they gave unselfishly.
Memorial Day (or Decoration Day) began way back around Civil War times:
In 1868, after attending a memorial service just a few months earlier, John Logan founded the Memorial Day observance. It was proclaimed a holiday through his General Order no. 11 and entitled Decoration Day and the first one was celebrated on May 30, 1868. A portion of the order reads as follows:
"The 30th day of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet church-yard in the land."
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