NOVEMBER 11

Today is Veterans Day!  This date was previously known as Armistice Day commemorating the signing of the Armistice between the Allies and Germany in 1918 marking the end of World War 1. 

World War I was, I must remind you, the "War to End All Wars."   That phrase is often associated with our President at the time;  Woodrow Wilson.  

"Thank you for your service" has been the standard comment to veterans for the last twenty to thirty years - I never heard it before then.  It's nice but I really wish we had a way of getting to those who really lost.  I don't mean the ones who lost life or limb - of course we owe them - but I feel for the sons and daughters who lost their father;  the wives who lost a husband;  the mothers and fathers who lost a son;  the siblings who lost a brother.  How do we pay them respect?  How do we show them we care?  

God showed us and Jesus taught us: "Love one another as I love you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."  If only we could thank all those who really need our thanks.  Offer a prayer for those known and unknown who have suffered the loss.

John 15:12-13