Remembrance

I was catching up on my newspaper reading this morning and read George W Bush's eulogy of his father.  It was poignant and moving, everything the moment called for, indeed all one hoped for.  But already in today's fast moving world, it seems like that service was long ago, a piece of history.

Today, we remember another piece of history: December 7, 1941 and the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.  That event drew our country into the greatest war ever.  Millions died, even more were injured.  FDR was right when he said it was a day that would live in infamy.  But what else might we recall from that event long ago?  Just the perfidy of the enemy?  Or how that foe, now a democracy, has become one of our nation's greatest and steadfast friends.

History isn't simply facts but meaning. What and how we choose to remember shapes who we are.  Advent is a time to stop and remember the past, to pause to remember God's promises to his people, and to think about how we want to respond and act to his grace.

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