Saturday, July 4th was especially great! We were excited about celebrating the holiday with our family and friends and we went to the Capitol for “Reading of the Names” at the Vietnam Memorial. For 33 years, on the first Saturday of every month at noon, the NC Vietnam Veterans, Inc. honors the fallen and reads the names of all who have not yet made it back home. They are gone but never forgotten! Every time I’ve had the privilege of attending that service with my husband, a proud member of the American Legion Riders and Sons of the American Legion, I am humbled by the tremendous respect and gratitude.
For those who are indignant, consider where we’d be without those who’ve been willing to fight and die for Our Great Country. The freedom we enjoy should never be taken for granted nor should that privilege ever be abused. I have to admit that going downtown I had a fighter’s mentality and in a way I would have welcomed one. However, I’m happy to report that protestors did not disrupt the reading and stayed a block away. The way I was thinking came from seeing monuments desecrated (and not just the Confederate ones,) following all of the nasty rioting, looting, etc. We’ve all heard the expression, “ignorance is bliss” but clearly it’s something very dangerous. The way things are evolving and the innocent lives being lost (any color and even children,) is heartbreaking.
I read the following post from Franklin Graham and thought about it all day. I’ll tell you why in my closing paragraph.
Harvard graduate Claira Janover made the claim that she would stab anyone with the nerve to say “all lives matter” to her. Then she lost her job at the accounting firm Deloitte because of the video and blamed Trump supporters for “compromising her future.” Well, I want Claira to know that even though she might feel that her life is over, it isn’t. God loves her. Her life, and her future, matters to Him. I would like for her to know that there is nothing equal to His love, grace, and mercy, which He extends to everyone. He wants each and every person to experience the reality and presence of Jesus Christ in their lives by turning away from their sin and putting their faith in Him. Anyone who accepts Christ by faith has a fresh start at life. The Bible says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17).
This is a perfect example of how the strongest faith in Christ provides the best perspective. Honestly, my first inclination would be to condemn her for what she said and say she deserved to lose her job. Besides that, I’m pretty sure I’d be put in jail if I made a threat like that. My faith is strong but I see that I have a fair amount of work to do when it comes to tolerance. That said, I will keep praying / asking for His guidance, healing and grateful perspective. There is no greater gift than His love for each and every one of us!
I also feel honored to attend this Reading of the Names each month I’m able to. This month’s reading fell on our Independence Day Holiday, July 4th. And with what’s been going on these days in the streets and plastered in the media this holiday was ignored by protesters and the media. All cameras and reporters were down the block covering the mobs and didn’t care that we were reading names of the missing bodies of North Carolina soldiers from the Vietnam war fighting to keep our freedom that so many others have died for. The Fourth of July 1776 when the Declaration of Independence was signed and was Declared to the British didn’t give us freedom, the Continental Army fought and many died in a war that lasted until 1783 that’s when we got our freedom. And we have needed to defend it everyday since