So Memorial Day was just upon us and, in an effort to push me to write more, a close friend has asked me to share my opinions on the holiday.

To start, it’s important to note that my grandfather served in the Air Force and my father served in the Army Engineer Corps. As such, military service is prominent in my family. As a child one of my many dreams was to become a pilot in the Air Force (until of course, we realized I was effectively blind.) In high school I heavily considered using the ROTC and a Political Science degree as the means to living on Pennsylvania Avenue. Military service is something I respect deeply and once considered myself.

Here’s where it becomes conflicting for me (military service, not Memorial Day, still getting to that): as a Christian I’m completely opposed to war. There simply is no reason the intentional death of another person is justifiable, as I believe that all human life is completely sacred. So military service is something I could never consider.

That belief in no way affects my friendships with servicemen and women. In fact, my own convictions encourage respect for what these people are required to do. They face potential death and hardship every day when they wake, and mourn ally and combatant alike every night. If I’ve learned anything from the servicemen I know, it’s that you never forget the faces of those that have fallen in front of you or beside you.

And in response to this physical, psychological, and emotional hardship that they face, we greet them with a forgettable holiday focusing not on remembrance but on hot dogs and having a day off. What’s my opinion of Memorial Day? I think it’s a joke, like every other holiday this nation seems to celebrate. I think we, as a country, have lost sight of what it means to celebrate other people’s losses and triumphs. That has had a profound impact on the way that we celebrate meaningful holidays.

I suppose I’ll leave you with this: whether it’s Memorial Day or Mother’s Day, Christmas or Washington’s Birthday, realize that people need to be mourned and celebrated. Especially those that chose to fight for your right to celebrate in the first place.

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