Reflections on Memorial Day: those who serve & sacrifice, those who work for peace
Only the dead have seen the end of war. — Plato
This is the day we pay homage to all those who didn’t come home … it’s not a celebration, it is a day of solemn contemplation over the cost of freedom. — Tamra Bolton
Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed. — Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO
Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. — Mark Twain
Patriotism is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime. — Adlai Stevenson
Gentleness, self-sacrifice and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion. — Gandhi
Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter – but beautiful – struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons (and daughters) of God, and our brothers (and sisters) wait eagerly for our response. — Martin Luther King
Memorial Day Prayer —Carl Schenck
We gather on a somber holiday.
We remember with sadness those we have loved and lost.
Let us not glorify the conflicts and violence
that tear our loved ones from us.
Let us, rather, give glory to God,
who calls us to use our freedom peaceably.
Our God is a God of all nations and peoples.
May our worship of God unite rather than divide.
Songs for Memorial Day Weekend
- Amazing Grace with Bagpipes (instrumental hymn)
- Armed Forces Medley choral performance
- Soldier’s Light by Rylee Preston (pop)
- All Gave Some and Some Gave All sung by Sgt Christiana Ball (country)
- Memorial Day by Coffey Anderson (country)
- More Than a Name on a Wall by The Statler Brothers (country)
- You Should Be Here by Cole Swindell (country)
- I Drive Your Truck by Lee Brice (country)
- Home by Dierks Bentley (country)
- If I Don’t Make It Back by Tracy Lawrence (country)
- The Ones That Didn’t Make It Back by Justin Moore (country)
- Soldier’s Last Letter by Merle Haggard (country)
- Hallelujah Veterans Version by Sailor Jerri (ballad)
- I Will Remember You by Sarah McLachlan (ballad)
- Some Gave All by Billy Ray Cyrus (country)
- If You’re Reading This by Tim McGraw (country)
- Arlington by Trace Adkins (country)
- Born in the USA by Bruce Springsteen (rock)
Film Clips
- Memorial Day Tribute from the movie Taking Chance (may be graphic in its detail, watch with caution)
- Ragged Old Flag feature from SuperBowl 53 highlighting the country song by Johnny Cash with Marine and US Medal of Honor recipient Kyle Carpenter
- Commencement Address: 10 Lessons I Learned in SEAL Training by Admiral William McRaven
Protest & Peace Songs:
- Where Is the Love? by the Black-Eyed Peas (rap)
- Teach Your Children by Kathy Mattea, Alison Krauss, Suzy Boggus (country)
- Bring the Boys Home by Freda Payne (protest rock)
- Fortunate Son by Creedance Clearwater Revival (protest rock)
- Masters of War by Bob Dylan
- For What Its Worth by Buffalo Springfield (protest rock)
- War by Edwin Starr (protest rock)
- Give Peace a Chance by John Lennon (protest rock)
- We Gotta Get Out of this Place by The Animals (protest rock)
- People, Let’s Stop the War by Grand Funk Railroad (protest rock)
- Dueling Banjos from Deliverance (instrumental)
- I Should Be Proud by Martha Reevers & the Vandellas (protest rock)
- Backlash Blues by Nina Simone (blues)
Memorial Day (excerpt)— Michael Anania … We know the stories that are told,
by starts and stops, by bent men at strange joy
regarding the precise enactments of their own
gesturing. And among the women there will be
a naming of families, a counting off, an ordering …
Peace — Langston Hughes
We passed their graves:
The dead men there,
Winners or losers,
Did not care.
In the dark
They could not see
Who had gained
The victory.
Who kept the faith and fought the fight;
The glory theirs, the duty ours.
— Wallace Bruce
You silent tents of green,
We deck with fragrant flowers;
Yours has the suffering been,
The memory shall be ours.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Notes on Memorial Day (excerpt) — Lillian Daniel
Memorial Day began after the Civil War as an effort toward reconciliation between the families of veterans in the North and the South. After the war, there was already a tradition in the North of decorating soldiers’ graves, called “Decoration Day.” But in 1868 an organization of Northern war veterans decreed it ought to be a national holiday. May 30 was carefully chosen as the date because it was not the anniversary of a specific battle, and therefore would be a neutral date for both sides. But human beings hold on to their wounds, and reconciliation takes time, grace and mercy…
Memorializing Rightly (excerpt) — Debra Dean Murphy
… much of our memorializing will trend, as it always does, toward … the simplistic, the cliche-riddled hyperpatriotism that does a disservice to the women and men who fight and die in wars conceived by powerful men … Surely it’s possible to honor the selflessness that’s part of soldiering and to mourn the fallen without slipping into the kind of sentimental white-washing that denies the complexities and ambiguities, the compromises and betrayals, both large and small, that the war dead knew well? Why, then, can’t we–in their stead, on their behalf, for their sake–be honest enough to honor such truths? … May we remember and memorialize … all deaths, this day and every day, with the truth-telling they deserve.
On Those Who Serve & Sacrifice
Heroism doesn’t always happen in a burst of glory. Sometimes small triumphs and large hearts change the course of history. — Mary Roach
It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. — Gandhi
Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few. — Winston Churchill
Courage is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die. — G.K. Chesteron
A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself. — Joseph Campbell
Your ordinary acts of love and hope point to the extraordinary promise
that every human life is of inestimable value. — Bishop Desmond Tutu
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God such men lived. — George S. Patton
Ceremonies are important. But our gratitude has to be more than visits to the troops, and once-a-year Memorial Day ceremonies. We honor the dead best by treating the living well. — Jennifer Granholm
Work for what you believe in, but pick your battles, and don’t burn your bridges. Don’t be afraid to take charge, think about what you want, then do the work, but then enjoy what makes you happy, bring along your crew, have a sense of humor. — Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. America will never forget their sacrifices. — Harry Truman
Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have
and all that they are. — Hafsat Abiola
It doesn’t take a hero to order men into battle. It takes a hero to be one of those men who goes into battle. – General Norman Schwarzkopf Jr.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. — Martin Luther King
How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and she-roes! – Maya Angelou
I’m very conscious of the fact that you can’t do it alone. It’s teamwork. When you do it alone you run the risk that when you are no longer there nobody else will do it. ― Wangari Maathai
My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country. — John F Kennedy
A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. — Gandhi
Peace Workers
On Memorial Day, I don’t want to only remember the combatants. There were also those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets, who started preaching peace, men and women who have made this world a kinder place to live. — Eric Burdon
One child, one teacher, one book, one pen can change the world. ― Malala Yousafzai
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner. — Nelson Mandela
Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. —John F. Kennedy
It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it. — Eleanor Roosevelt
If civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships – the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world at peace. — Franklin D. Roosevelt
Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come. — Henri Nouwen
We must pursue peaceful ends by peaceful means. I’m committed to nonviolence absolutely … I will continue to preach and teach it… I plan to stand by nonviolence. …(because) only a refusal to hate or kill can put an end to the chain of violence in the world and lead toward community where people live together without fear. — Martin Luther King
Today, we are truly a global family. What happens in one part of the world may affect us all. This, of course, is not only true of the negative things that happen, but is equally valid for the positive developments. … But war or peace; the destruction or the protection of nature; the violation or promotion of human rights and democratic freedoms; poverty or material well-being; the lack of moral and spiritual values or their existence and development; and the breakdown or development of human understanding, are not isolated phenomena that can be analysed and tackled independently of one another. In fact, they are very much interrelated at all levels and need to be approached with that understanding… Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each one of us individually. Peace, for example, starts with each one of us. — Dalai Lama
When you have a conflict, that means that there are truths that have to be addressed on each side of the conflict. And when you have a conflict, then it’s an educational process to try to resolve the conflict.
And to resolve that, you have to get people on both sides of the conflict involved so that they can dialogue. — Dolores Huerta
The answer lies in the last word of the priestly blessing: shalom, peace. In a long analysis the 15th century Spanish Jewish commentator Rabbi Isaac Arama explains that shalom does not mean merely the absence of war or strife. It means completeness, perfection, the harmonious working of a complex system, integrated diversity, a state in which everything is in its proper place and all is at one with the physical and ethical laws governing the universe. — Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Violence and nonviolence agree that suffering can be a very powerful social force. But there is a difference. Violence says suffering can be a powerful social force by inflicting it on somebody else, so this is what we do in war… The nonviolent say that suffering becomes a powerful social force when you willingly accept the violence on yourself, so that self-suffering stands at the center of the nonviolent movement… There is no easy way to create a world where people can live together… but if such a world is created…it will be accomplished by persons who have the language to put an end to suffering by willingly suffering themselves rather than inflicting suffering on others… Unearned suffering is redemptive. — Martin Luther King
TUE, MAY 25 – MON, MAY 31 (Memorial Day Weekend)
TUE, May 25
- Community Event: LISTEN Book Study Group
9:30am • Zoom link required. (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info). Ecumenical study series begins this week. Sue Davidson from the Conway United Methodist Church leads this group and she has a few copies of the book available for purchase ($9).- Listen by Rueben P. Job is a 40-day experience created to offer help to those new to prayer, those with a daily prayer routine, and those whose lives seem too busy to pray. With a focus on listening prayer and prayer as a two-way conversation, the experience will assist individuals and groups in building and deepening a personal prayer practice and spiritual discernment.
- Community Event: CHAIR YOGA
10am • Zoom (pre-registration required: Pre-registration link.)
Free 6-week series/online class sponsored by the Friends of the Whitney Center. Exercise is a key component of a happy, healthy life at any age. If you are looking to create a stronger back or core, needing to stretch from head to toe, well grab a chair and a yoga strap and prepare to explore body strength, mobility and flexibility as this class/series will support you in healthy habits. Includes exercises for strengthening, mobility and flexibility to bring health to the whole body from head to toe. Anjali Rose will guide you virtually in your own home. Dress comfortably, bring a water bottle, chair and yoga strap and commit to a healthier you. Upon registration, any other specifics will be sent to you. - CLERGY LUNCH
12:30-2pm • Zoom.
Meeting of Clergy of the Eastern Slope for peer work and community networking. Rev Gail attends. - Community Resource: LIBRARY for PICKUP or BROWSING by APPOINTMENT
2-6pm • Jackson Library
Pick up holds, print items, or book an appointment to stay on site and browse.
Request appointments: https://jacksonlibrary.simplybook.me/v2/.
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org - Community Event: VIRTUAL YOGA
4:30pm • Zoom
The Friends of the Whitney welcome back yoga instructor, Anjali Rose to host virtual yoga. This yoga class is free to Jackson community residents and is designed for all levels to participate. Each person attending can register and upon registration will receive an email within 24 hours with the Zoom link for the class. It’s important to register as soon as you can and no later than 2pm on Tuesdays.- Register in advance for this meeting:https://us02web.zoom.us/…/tZclceGgqzIpHdXzJDVEGz…
- After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
- If you are new to yoga and have questions, please reach out to Anjali at: anjalirose15@gmail.com with questions.
- DEACONS MEETING
7pm • Zoom link required.
WED, May 26
- FITNESS with LAURIE McALEER
9am • JCC Parish House (in-person)
Join us for a free, gentle fitness class. Please let Laurie McAleer know you will attend. Masking and social distancing required. - Community Resource: LIBRARY for PICKUP or BROWSING by APPOINTMENT
2-5pm • Jackson Library
Pick up holds, print items, or book an appointment to stay on site and browse.
Request appointments: https://jacksonlibrary.simplybook.me/v2/.
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
THURS, May 27
- Community Event: BIRDING in JACKSON
7:30am • In-person in Jackson.
Advance registration required. Click here. Spring is here are so are the birds! Brush off your birding skills with Tin Mountain’s weekly bird walks Thursday mornings in Jackson. All birding levels. - Community Resource: LIBRARY for PICKUP or BROWSING by APPOINTMENT
2-6pm • Jackson Library
Pick up holds, print items, or book an appointment to stay on site and browse. Request appointments: https://jacksonlibrary.simplybook.me/v2/.
Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org - Community Service: WAY STATION SHIFT
1pm • Food pickup
2:30pm • Curbside package preparation
5pm • Shift at curbside with guests @ 15 Grove St, North Conway, NH
Rev Gail and JCC volunteers serve this weekly outreach to local homeless and housing-insecure residents.
FRI, May 28
- Community Resource: LIBRARY for PICKUP or BROWSING by APPOINTMENT
2-5pm • Jackson Library
Pick up holds, print items, or book an appointment to stay on site and browse.Request appointments: https://jacksonlibrary.simplybook.me/v2/. Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org - C3: COCKTAILS & CHRISTIAN CONVERSATIONS
5pm • Zoom link required. (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info)
Conversation about this week’s scripture.
SAT, May 29
- Community Event: BIRDING in the BOG
7am -10am • Register in advance: Click here to register. Meet at G & S Store in Brownfield
(Takes place: May 22, May 29)
Join birders of all levels on this weekly bird walk through the bog and view the rich diversity of bird life that makes it way north to rest or nest. Bring binoculars (or borrow ours), rubber boots, and a snack. This year we are doing this a little different and are requiring advanced registration for this program to keep down group size. Click here to register. - Community Event: CRAFT & ARTISAN FAIRS
10am-4pm on Sat & Sun- Gibson Center
- Schouler Park in North Conway
- First Church in North Conway
- Community Resource: LIBRARY for PICKUP or BROWSING by APPOINTMENT
10am – 2pm • Jackson Library
Pick up holds, print items, or book an appointment to stay on site and browse. Request appointments: https://jacksonlibrary.simplybook.me/v2/. Contact the library for additional help: 603.383.9731 or by email: staff@jacksonlibrary.org
SUN, May 30
- INTERFAITH GATHERING
8am • Zoom link required. (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info)
Join us for poetry, prayer and conversation. Zoom-only. - CHOIR PRACTICE
9am • Zoom link required. (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info) - VIRTUAL WORSHIP & IN-PERSON – MEMORIAL DAY THEME
10:30am • Zoom link required. (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info)- Join us for worship with music, scripture, prayer and reflection.
- Live music by Alan Labrie
- Message with Rev Gail Doktor
- Stay for virtual coffee hour (via Zoom only).
- Singing with masks in-person is now in practice for those who wish to join in.
- In-person attendance requires masks and social distancing.
- Service will also be live-streamed to website and Facebook (if technology supports this function on the day of event). Afterward, recordings of worship service will be posted to Facebook, Vimeo.com channel & Youtube.com channel.
- Community Event: CRAFT & ARTISAN FAIRS
10am-4pm on Sat & Sun- Gibson Center
- Schouler Park in North Conway
- Community Event: WILDQUACK DUCKRACE & FESTIVAL
8am – 4pm
Details: https://www.facebook.com/JacksonAreaCC/
MON, May 31 MEMORIAL DAY
- Any community events to be shared as publicized.
May 23: Pentecost Sunday
Messages: Wind and Fire
Reflections on Pentecost: breath, wind, and new beginnings
Breath means new life — and new life means new growth, change, and ongoing development. The Spirit protects and connects, but also challenges, provoking and pushing us along. — SALT Project
You are called to be truly human, but it is nothing short of the life of God within you that enables you to be so, to be remade in God’s image. ― N.T. Wright
Bethlehem was God with us, Calvary was God for us, and Pentecost is God in us. — Robert Baer
SONGS:
- Holy Spirit by Francesca Battistelli (Christian music)
- May the Longtime Sun performed by Sara Thomsen (yoga/meditation music)
- Come Holy Spirit by Bright City (Christian music)
- Breathe by Taylor Swift (pop)
- Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant (Christian music)
- Just Breathe by Pearl Jam (country)
- Every Breath You Take by the Police (rock)
- Take My Breath Away by Berlin (rock)
- Catching my Breath by Kelly Clarkson (country)
O Thou, far off and here, whole and broken,
Who in necessity and bounty wait,
Whose truth is light and dark, mute though spoken,
By Thy wide grace show me Thy narrow gate.
— Wendell Berry
WHAT IS PENTECOST? (excerpt from article by SALT Project, full link here)
1) Pentecost (from a Greek word for “fiftieth”) is the fiftieth and last day of the Easter season. Next week is Trinity Sunday, and then nearly six months of “Ordinary Time” begins, during which this year’s walk through the Gospel of Mark (and occasionally John) will continue. From ten thousand feet, the Christian Year appears divided almost in half: about six months of holy seasons (Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Eastertide), and about six months of Ordinary Time. Like a pendulum swinging back and forth, or a pair of lungs breathing in and out, the church alternates between these two movements each year: high holidays and everyday life, the joys of celebration and the grunt work of growth.
2) Pentecost is the Christian reinterpretation of the ancient Jewish pilgrimage festival, the Festival of Weeks, or Shavuot (pronounced “sha-voo-OAT,” rhymes with “coat”), celebrated 50 days after Passover. For the ancient Israelites, this festival was an explicitly inclusive harvest celebration (Deut 16:11; Lev 23:16), and over time, it also came to mark the reception of the Torah at Mount Sinai. For Christians, it celebrates the reception of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the church. Happy Birthday! …
SPIRIT IN US and WITH US
… view the work of the Holy Spirit differently. The Spirit doesn’t solve our problems, but invites us to see possibilities we would not have seen otherwise. Rather than remove our fear, the Spirit grants us courage to move forward. Rather than promise safety, the Spirit promises God’s presence. Rather than remove us from a turbulent world, or even settle the turbulence, the Spirit enables us to keep our footing amid the tremors. — David Lose
Those in whom the Spirit comes to live are God’s new Temple. They are, individually and corporately, places where heaven and earth meet. — N.T. Wright
Dreams grow holy put in action. — Adelaide Anne Procter
If you want to speak to God, tell it to the wind. — Proverb from Ghana
A great wind is blowing, and that gives you either imagination or a headache. — Catherine the Great
Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive. —Howard Thurman
When you strip it of everything else, Pentecost stands for power and life. That’s what came into the church when the Holy Spirit came down on the day of Pentecost. ― David Wilkerson
Without Pentecost the Christ-event – the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus – remains imprisoned in history as something to remember, think about and reflect on. The Spirit of Jesus comes to dwell within us, so that we can become living Christs here and now. – Henri Nouwen
It has seemed to me sometimes as though the Lord breathes on this poor gray ember of Creation and it turns to radiance – for a moment or a year or the span of a life. And then it sinks back into itself again, and to look at it no one would know it had anything to do with fire, or light. … But the Lord is more constant and far more extravagant than it seems to imply. Wherever you turn your eyes the world can shine like transfiguration. You don’t have to bring a thing to it except a little willingness to see. Only, who could have the courage to see it?” — Marilynne Robinson
… Although onlookers thought that the believers who received the Spirit at Pentecost were babbling (Acts 2:13), in fact they were speaking intelligibly in several languages (Acts 2:8-11). Note well: they were all saying the same thing (testifying about Jesus) in different languages. It takes a thousand tongues to say and sing our great Redeemer’s praise. … plurality: the various … streams testify to Jesus in their own vocabularies, and it takes many languages (i.e. interpretive traditions) to minister the meaning of God’s Word and the fullness of Christ. As the body is made up of many members, so many interpretations may be needed to do justice to the body of the biblical text. Why else are there four Gospels, but that the one story of Jesus was too rich to be told from one perspective only? Could it be that the various … traditions function similarly as witnesses who testify to the same Jesus from different situations and perspectives? ― Kevin J. Vanhoozer
Pentecost came with the sound of a mighty rushing wind, a violent blast from heaven! Heaven has not exhausted its blasts, but our danger is we are getting frightened of them. — Smith Wigglesworth
The Worship of Nature— John Greenleaf Whittier
The harp at Nature’s advent strung
Has never ceased to play;
The song the stars of morning sung
Has never died away.
And prayer is made, and praise is given,
By all things near and far;
The ocean looketh up to heaven,
And mirrors every star.
Its waves are kneeling on the strand,
As kneels the human knee,
Their white locks bowing to the sand,
The priesthood of the sea!
They pour their glittering treasures forth,
Their gifts of pearl they bring,
And all the listening hills of earth
Take up the song they sing.
The green earth sends its incense up
From many a mountain shrine;
From folded leaf and dewy cup
She pours her sacred wine.
The mists above the morning rills
Rise white as wings of prayer;
The altar-curtains of the hills
Are sunset’s purple air.
The winds with hymns of praise are loud,
Or low with sobs of pain,—
The thunder-organ of the cloud,
The dropping tears of rain.
With drooping head and branches crossed
The twilight forest grieves,
Or speaks with tongues of Pentecost
From all its sunlit leaves.
The blue sky is the temple’s arch,
Its transept earth and air,
The music of its starry march
The chorus of a prayer.
So Nature keeps the reverent frame
With which her years began,
And all her signs and voices shame
The prayerless heart of man.
UPCOMING BOOK STUDY: Listen by Reuben Job
The next ecumenical study series begins Tue, 9:30am on May 25th. Sue Davidson from the Conway United Methodist Church leads this group and she has a few copies of the book available for purchase ($9).
To attend on 9:30am on Tue, May 25th:
- Join Zoom Meeting (link required – email jcchurch@jacksoncommunitychurch.org for the necessary info)
We live in a world of noise. Everywhere we go, we hear sounds that compete for our minds and hearts. Listening to God requires a deliberate choice to shut out the chaos around us and focus our thoughts.
Listen, by Rueben P. Job, is a 40-day experience created to offer help to those new to prayer, those with a daily prayer routine, and those whose lives seem too busy to pray. With a focus on listening prayer and prayer as a two-way conversation, the experience will assist individuals and groups in building and deepening a personal prayer practice and spiritual discernment.
As we learn to listen, we find a new depth and fulfillment in our relationship with God and a new experience of God as guide and companion in our lives. The daily prayer pattern includes an invitation, silence, Bible reading, a story, guided time for reflecting and listening, and practical help for developing six specific prayer practices.
Listen is perfect for use by individuals, small groups, or congregations during Lent, Easter, or any time of year.