One Human Race

Memorial Day has been a bit of a struggle for me.  As a child it was a tradition to go with my family to put flowers on the graves of departed family members.  In New England, the weekend marked the beginning of summer, so it was safe enough to put flowers in the ground without worrying about frost. We would also put flags near the gravestones. My father, a veteran of WWII would put out the flag on the house for the weekend. We would go to the Memorial Day parade in the city.  One year I marched in the parade as a member of the school band.  Those are some of the fond memories from Memorial Day. 

During the Vietnam conflict (It was not a declared war by congress) a childhood friend of mine was killed in action. Every year I remember him and think about playing sports with him and our other friends in nearby playgrounds. These games were just friends getting together and choosing sides, not organized like little league.

As a Christian I see war as part of our fallen nature as humans.  Our Creator did not intend for us to be at war with one another. God’s way is love. Growing up when I did, the protests of the Vietnam conflict were in full swing and the opposition to war was evident for so many young people at the time. Peace and love were the words of those opposing the conflict.

Today hate, conflict and war are not abating.  In the past few years, our own country has been at odds with one another over politics and it continues today. Hate among the two major political parties who do not work together for the common good and are at deep conflict with one another continue to spread hate and distrust among people. We should be uniting as a people of peace in this nation and working towards peace among all nations. It is not only this country there is deep civil unrest in a number of nations across the globe. 

We do not yet realize we are one human race on this planet.  The immortal picture “Earthrise” from Apollo 8 brought it home to me when I first saw it and still does today. Only when we are able to look at one another as an equal will we begin to end hate, conflict, and war among humans. That should and must be the goal of all people not just people of faith, to unite in love and peace among all humans.