Memorial Day

[Roberta Grimes]

A lot of the best afterlife evidence was produced nearly a century ago by English-speaking boys who died in Europe in World War I and then communicated through a few extraordinary mediums. Like those who go to Iraq and Afghanistan today, they ventured to a distant land to fight a threat to their homeland there and keep it far from those they loved. And they were young! Some of them died in their teens. Had they lived, they would by now have died of old age. But most of them gave up even the chance to marry and have children and grandchildren in order that you and I and all our descendants might have the chance to forever live free. There is a special place in my heart for those WW I doughboys. Not only did they give their all so young, but then afterward some of them performed an extraordinary further service for us in first really opening our minds to the greater reality that they found after death.

In gratitude to them, and in gratitude to all the other warriors who have fallen for our freedom, I am going to recite here again the poem that I memorized for my small-town Memorial Day celebration when I was maybe ten years old:

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky,
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be it yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who died
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

My prayer is that we will today really take up their torch, and redouble our efforts to protect forever the personal freedom for all humankind that they died to give us!

[orangeysky]

Thank you, Roberta. This is beautiful.

[mac]

It seems that war and humankind are inseparable...

Right now our 7pm daily BBC evening show is showing the Falklands War - remember that one? Kinda overshadowed by the more recent ones and smaller than most but a war nonetheless.

Maybe one day the world will turn without there being wars?

[WWE LOVER]

Thanks Roberta.

When I was a kid, we always recited that poem on Remembrance Day.

All you Americans out there, have a good day!

[LachlanMac]

It seems that war and humankind are inseparable...

Right now our 7pm daily BBC evening show is showing the Falklands War - remember that one? Kinda overshadowed by the more recent ones and smaller than most but a war nonetheless.

Maybe one day the world will turn without there being wars?

Yep, my dad fought in the Falklands. Before my time, though!

[mac]

Yep, my dad fought in the Falklands. Before my time, though!

It's still in my memory but it does seem a long way back - I'm 65.

It was a war despite being a short one and many folk don't realise that it's not formally over. The Argentinians didn't formally surrender and cease hostilities and still maintain their claim on the land. The UK could still face a further war over this tiny land mass....

[Fasaga]

It's still in my memory but it does seem a long way back - I'm 65.

It was a war despite being a short one and many folk don't realise that it's not formally over. The Argentinians didn't formally surrender and cease hostilities and still maintain their claim on the land. The UK could still face a further war over this tiny land mass....

Very hard to comprehend, isn't it.

[mac]

Very hard to comprehend, isn't it.

On the face of it maybe it is difficult to follow but look at wars generally and underlying many, if not most, was a dispute over land or the desire of one nation's leaders to annex another nation's resources etc.

plus ca change, c'est plus la meme chose....

[Fasaga]

On the face of it maybe it is difficult to follow but look at wars generally and underlying many, if not most, was a dispute over land or the desire of one nation's leaders to annex another nation's resources etc.

plus ca change, c'est plus la meme chose....

I really don't know what to say to that without contradicting myself a dozen times - "Share and Share Alike" springs to mind but isn't that Communism, or is it Socialism, and could it work in an affluent Society or is it the last fronteir of a starving Nation. Do you think people will ever change?

[mac]

I really don't know what to say to that without contradicting myself a dozen times - "Share and Share Alike" springs to mind but isn't that Communism, or is it Socialism, and could it work in an affluent Society or is it the last fronteir of a starving Nation. Do you think people will ever change?

Will people ever change? Well 'people' covers such a broad spectrum or personalities that for some the answer will be 'yes' and for the others, it's gonna be 'maybe' or 'no'....

A lot of that will be down to individual personal spiritual development and if we go into all that we'll be way off-topic.