Remembrance Day

I know that in this country, we refer to November 11th as Veteran's Day. I actually like the Commonwealth designation of 'remembrance,' though. Today we remember the wars and the dead soldiers and the lives immutably altered. It's also Armistice Day which is a day when peace was achieved. No, not permanent peace, but peace for 1918, such as it was. There are many ways to observe this day: fly a flag, wear a poppy, say prayers. I'm going to give you and update on Jay.
You may remember that Jay was my son's best friend growing up. He lost three limbs in Afghanistan back in August and, when last I wrote, he was in Bethesda Naval Hospital, destined for a long stint at Walter Reed for physical therapy. I, and many others, have been praying for him and his family everyday, sickened by what the war did to him and so many others, but loving him for his courage and for doing what he thought was right.

Today, just over three months later, Jay is not even in the hospital. He's in a hotel on the grounds of Walter Reed getting outpatient physical therapy twice a day. He walks on what they call 'shorty legs' for now until he gets used to them. Then he'll get regular length legs. He has a prosthetic left arm and manages pretty well with the thumb and forefinger on his right hand that survived the blast.

The pictures I've seen of him look just like the Jay I've known for over 20 years, but he's missing body parts that he used to have. That breaks my heart. But you know what he says? He says that he's thankful for the injuries he didn't receive - no head trauma, no internal injuries, no death. And now he's getting himself around on his own, refusing to let this beat him. It's an amazing act of courage. No one, and I mean no one, could have expected him to be doing so well so soon.

I hate what this war did to Jay, but I can honor him because I love him, just as we can honor all of those who fought for what they believed even if it meant death or dismemberment. I hate war and long for peace. That is my deepest prayer on this Remembrance Day.

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At our community worship this morning, we also observed Armistice Day (it was led by a British professor). As part of it, students from various countries seriously affected by past wars spoke of the impact on their countries - a Pole on the invasion on two fronts in WWII, a Greek telling of the 86% of Greek Jews that were exterminated, a Korean lamenting the invasion, the deaths and the subsequent division of her country. This, too, is why remembrance is so needed not just on this day but on all days. We remember the sacrifices of life, but we also need to remember the toll that it takes on our global community. Remember so that we can all work for peace and reconciliation in our world.

While there were no poppies to hand out today, we were given poppy-colored slips of paper with the name of someone lost in Iraq or Afghanistan so that we could pray for them throughout the day. So today, I am praying for Capt. Ryan A. Beaupre from Bloomington, IL and his family.

And I will remember.