Honor those who paid the price

This weekend we have observed Memorial Day, now dedicated to recall the sacrifices made by others to protect the liberty and values we cherish so dearly.  It is our custom to relax and enjoy all that we have - not just those material things we gather, but more importantly the ideas and ideals that will remain long after our time:

Freedom...equality...hope...opportunity... and tzedek (Hebrew for “justice”) - the moral imperative found in Jewish tradition to do what is right.  This holiday gives us precious occasion to reflect on the goodness of the world around us and our potential to make it even better.  This is the most noble purpose of liberty.  So might we heed the words of Leviticus, emblazoned on the Liberty Bell:  u’k’ratem d’ror ba-aretz - proclaim liberty throughout the land, so that every one of us might yet attain our greatest promise.

Yet, do we really understand the meaning of Memorial Day? Most of us, casually, believe it to be a day to honor those veterans who have served our nation’s military. This is only partly true. In fact, Memorial Day is *specifically* dedicated to those who died during their service. Initially, it emerged in part to heal the rift between North and South following the Civil War.

The first American Memorial Day was in Charleston, SC, on May 1, 1865, shortly after the end of hostilities. During the war, at least 257 Union soldiers who were former slaves died while being held as prisoners of war at the Hampton Park Race Course in Charleston, and were buried in unmarked graves. Black residents of Charleston cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled "Martyrs of the Race Course". They then organized a May Day ceremony, which was covered by the New York Tribune and other national papers. Nearly 10,000 people, led by nearly 3,000 children, marched in a parade to commemorate the dead. The event was mostly attended by former slaves, but also included mutual aid societies, Union troops, black ministers and white northern missionaries. Nearly ironically, this national holiday was founded by those who suffered (and still do, to a degree) the worst inequities in American history.

We are still subject to the historic dynamics that have divided us – race, gender, socio-economic advantage. The battles of the Civil War, and all the wars that have plagued our history, have resurfaced in our current political campaign season. We can still rise above, and fulfill our hoped-for destiny to become, as John Winthrop asserted on the ship Arbella just prior to setting foot in the New World – to become a “city on the hill” – a beacon of promise, a light unto the nations, guiding the world toward a better future.

And so today, for at least a moment, forget your own nonsense; honor those who paid the price for the liberty we cherish, and work toward their vision of a world redeemed.