“The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.” Pete Seeger 1967
Another blabbering of words
Some mean nothing
But some mean something
Another day of spew and splutter
Transporting to lands absurd --- ShireSteve May 2019
Just Another Beggar
Memorial Day has come and gone; it rained a lot in the Midwest. We are far farther towards a looming disaster as many acres may be abandoned as too wet to plant. Still the good people of the Heartland, I dislike the term, honored tradition in small parades, patronizing speeches, and flags. Oh, we do love flags in these modern days. Of course, we say we love our veterans and our troops. It is only in the reality of the VA budget or the rush to war that we do not. Our little Mayberry of the Midwest held a special ceremony as the remains of a recently identified sailor lost at Pearl Harbor were interned. A remembrance memorial to him already existed in the cemetery, now his last earthly traces are there. We expend much effort to honor the sacrifice by return of the body, maybe it is an honor. Gen. Sherman once addressed the next generation by saying “Some of you young men think that war is all glamour and glory, but let me tell you, boys, it is all hell!” Holding honest history sacred and demanding truth from policymakers would honor the sacrifice more.
Local TV News reports on the return of a casualty of Pearl Harbor
Some still recall when it was Decoration Day not celebrated on a convenient Monday, but on the specified day when a person (grandmother) could count on the peonies to be in bloom. I always have a complex inner dialog with our patriotic holidays. I certainly want to honor veterans, but the nauseating jingoism of some Americans cannot be endorsed. Memorial Day designated to honor those who died in the service of our country is especially poignant. The holiday begun in the aftermath of the Civil War generates multiple claims of origin and even a debate of who it memorializes. Some states hold separate Confederate Memorial Days and yet others claim it was started to honor all the dead of the Civil War. It should probably honor many who died of disease and accident who were civilians. The Civil War brought on much death. The confederates did not fight for our country but against it, maybe we should honor Japanese, Germans, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese, Iraqis, Afghans, well it is a long list. The official intent would be the proclamation passed by former Union general, then Senator John Logan, also head of the GAR at the time. I would refer people seeking rigids rules of definition to affirm that proposition as the prime source.
Yet I find Memorial Day can have a far more expansive definition. Supreme sacrifice is not reserved to just soldiers. Certainly our misguided armies of the confederacy sacrificed, but as U.S. Grant wrote “I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly, and had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse” On Memorial Day I feel I tread a narrow beam trying carefully not to misstep or fall from the beam as I cross it. I do honor the sacrifice of the soldiers, but they are not alone. What of the sacrifice of the civilian? Those who suffer and die as the hell of war unfolds. Who honors the sacrifice of the protestor or dissident who argued against an unjust war? Many who stand to say no, also sacrifice property, liberty, and life. I experienced the waning months of Vietnam as a very fit young man with a very low draft number. I have thought and prayed about duty and what is the right? A war no one wanted to be in anymore, but the authorities were too proud to admit their mistake. Where was duty? Was it to acquiesce and accept the fate of a cosmic lottery ticket or stand in protest by a refusal to perpetuate a wrong? Many months I meditated and debated that question, yet I left it unresolved. Fate and timing made the debate moot.
I have thought and prayed about duty and what is the right?
Memorial Day always brings back ghosts not of PTSD as it will for some, but of the inner debate of my teens. Where is honor? What is duty? When are you a follower of Jesus? What is it to defend America? Is any war just? Isn’t service required in an existential war? Who has the right to call a war just or unjust? What course and decision requires the greater courage? The inner debate returns loud enough to dull the hearing of the jingoistic and simplistic speeches. I can simply observe, sing the patriotic songs and hymns. I can honor the sacrifice. I honor the tragedy of humanity. The great potential to live in a higher plane of consciousness, but the continuing surrender to our low base being of fear and greed.
Once again, our society is fraying.
We are choosing sides. The culture war left simmering from Vietnam now careens through our history. A large segment of our population has pledged allegiance to delusion. They worship the sedative of unquestioned belief. They celebrate the lie because it justifies their sin. They seek the easy path treading towards the mirage of self-righteousness. The old norms are failing, and we have no common unifying experience of shared values. We still try in our small communities. The communities the majority of Americans consider stagnant backwaters. Sometimes backwaters are really estuaries that spawn new life. I have no illusions they will. We have few communal requirements or ceremonies or traditions. Nothing draws us as one people to share the same identity. I make an observation not a longing for the past. Change is inevitable. The present is always as much past, as it is future.
My wife and I went to Chicago on Memorial Day Weekend. It was my birthday and we had tickets to Hamilton. Before the Amtrak home we attended church and walked the Magnificent Mile. American Legion folks had donation cans and poppies. They were being passed by. I never saw anyone make a donation. I also had my excuses. I had no change; my only cash was a fifty-dollar bill. I actually never used cash during the entire weekend. The poppy holders were bypassed just like any other beggar. We view all charity with skepticism. Name a charity that hasn’t had its scandals. We have lost faith in American competence. We no longer believe someone knows what they are doing and doing it well. The core of Americanism is lost. It seems we view everyone outside our inner circle as just another beggar. Even Memorial Day cannot draw us to celebrate our oneness. As the circling camps are formed once again, we must all debate: where is honor, where lies duty, what is justice? Where should the patriot stand when a choice must be made? Jesus might ask with our abundance of wealth, why are there beggars? When we cannot seek truth or demand equality and justice in this age, then the poverty of the American soul is the answer.