On this Veterans Day

Today, I’m thankful.  On this Veterans Day I’m thankful that I was brought up in a church in which war was never glorified or revered.  I’m thankful that I was raised in a church where love of God and love of country were two concepts that were never linked.  I’m thankful for men like my grandfather who refused the call to war, but instead served in other areas and helped shed light on the awful treatment of patients that was taking place in American psychiatric hospitals. I’m just as thankful for men like my father who answered the call to military service.  I am thankful to teach at a university that sets aside an hour on this day to celebrate and honor those men and women who have served and do serve in military service.  I am thankful to hear the stories of veterans, men and women who love God with all their hearts.  I’m thankful to be able to stand in applause as those service members, current and former, old and young, fill the stage.   I’m thankful to have enjoyed the privileges and freedoms that growing up in the United States of America have afforded me.  On this day, I’m thankful that my gut still says to think twice when asked to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  And today, on this Veterans Day, I am thankful that I have been able to reconcile my abhorrence of war with my desire to honor those who have sacrificed.  I have reconciled my love of Christ’s teachings on peace with my appreciation for those who have served.  May I never pledge my allegiance to anything or anyone above Christ Jesus.  May my ultimate thanks and appreciation always lie in His sacrifice.  May I always recognize that fighting against the enemy and the love of Christ will always be in conflict with one another in this, a fallen world.  So to you, men and women who have served and do serve in our military ranks, I say thank you.  And to you who have served and do serve in Christ's calling of peace, I say thank you.