Today is Memorial Day, a day set aside to honor those who have given their lives for our country, in defense of our freedoms. We are encouraged to remember, to bless, to pray. At 3 p.m. this afternoon a moment of silence over the barbecue, between beers, would at least be nice.

That too many of our brothers and sisters have died, that war has been sold especially to our young men as glorious, as exciting, as a “Red Badge of Courage,” is tragic. War is tragic – a failure of humanity to find and access its best instincts, a victory of evil no matter which side ultimately wins.

There have been wars with obvious evil on one side but that did not assure that absolute goodness was on the other. There is too much of “the end justifies the means,” to leave anything but ambivalence and tragedy in war’s wake.

But those who have stepped forward and died or come back maimed in body, mind and spirit, and the families who love them, all are worthy of memorializing this day.

Say thank you to them.

Then turn to our leaders, all our world’s leaders, and ask them to give up more than their golf game in honor of our troops. Ask them to make every decision as if they themselves and their children were on the front lines.

In fact, let’s set up a world free-fight center and put the leaders who want to fight in a ring to hash it out. No more war by proxy. Let them fight their own battles in a controlled environment.

We are destroying ourselves. We need to stop.

As the world grows smaller by the day and global warming takes away land mass with rising waters and whole populations are disbursed, we need to rethink how we solve our global problems. We need to learn to talk to one another.

We need to study war no more! This isn’t Pollyanna talking. It’s practical.

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled. Neither let them be afraid.” Jesus said it. (John 14:27)

Are there enough real Christians among us yet to start living it? Any day now! The Christ Spirit does not require that we literally worship Jesus. It calls us to claim and stand for his teachings. Now that would be a changed world!

I hope you will pray with me at 3 p.m. Happy Memorial Day!