A Monday at the end of May

 

I am as guilty as many other Americans of making the last Monday in May a National Barbecue Day rather than the more serious and reflective day that it should be.  Too often, I allow the day to pass without even stopping to think about what it is really about.  Well, not this year. 

Don’t get me wrong.  We still barbecued.   Polish sausage (kielbasa) with the flavor that only comes from being on the grill sans foil.   Add to it -- pea salad, three bean salad, cucumber salad (do you see a theme here?), tater tots, and baked rockfish to top it all off. I am stuffed and content.  I love National Barbecue Day.  

But, I also love my country.   I’ve heard the following words over and over again throughout my life but especially on Memorial Day:

Remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedoms.   

It is truly a sad state of affairs when these words only truly sink in when our freedoms are in real danger of being extinguished, temporarily at best, and now possibly -- for the rest of my time on this earth.  I expect to be here for several more decades, but, like many, I am afraid of the future that my beloved country is now facing.   

In America, I have lived a life speaking my mind, never once considering the possibility of dire consequences for doing so.

In America, I've lived my life secure as a birthright citizen, never once considering that I would be sent to live in a country that is not the United States and is as foreign to me as Mars or Venus.   

In America, I have lived the upward mobility story -- rising not only from poverty to the middle class, but being transformed into a more thoughtful and capable person by a high quality college education – which has in turn better equipped to be a teacher and public servant.

In America, I have been free enough to practice free will. To grow in my faith along a haphazard, convoluted route that has led me closer to God and more able and willing to serve Him. 

Throughout the years I have lived and changed in the United States, I have become increasingly aware of my affluence as an American and of my responsibility to steward resources and share my privilege for the benefit of others.

At times, I have been spoiled.  At times, I have taken this all for granted.   At times, I have been oblivious to the needs of others. At times, I have been disparaging of what others have to say, even of what others are.  

None of these times am I proud of.  

I want to do better.  Resting on American ideals and values alongside my faith, I can do better.     

But here I am.   On Memorial Day 2025, I am contemplating with deep sadness all those who have died for this country while protecting freedoms that now seem to be rapidly slipping away from us.