Memorial Day

I have a weird relationship with national holidays that honor soldiers. I am the grandson of a soldier. My father's father went up Normandy Beach on June 6, 1944 and many, many of the people that I have loved and respected in my life are or have been soldiers. On the other hand, my grandfather on my mother's side was a pacifist. He DIDN'T participate in World War 2 because of his convictions.

I was out a few weeks back and saw a U.S. Marine bumper sticker that said, "Pacifism is a luxury paid for by warriors." And to be perfectly honest, I don't disagree with that. The idea of pacifism, to me, implies inaction. Someone unwilling to take action. And hence, it's easy to be a pacifist in a world where you never have to stand up for that belief.

What is NOT paid for by warriors is nonviolent resistance. The role of nonviolence is one that I've thought about before and to me it's one of the bravest things a person can do. Someone committed to nonviolence is committed to changing their world, but has decided to do it without resorting to violence. The reason I consider it brave is because someone who does this has decided that they are willing to suffer the consequence of their lives for it.

I know there are people who disagree with that and I am grateful to live in a country where people can respectfully disagree, or even not so respectfully at times. But in a place where we have that benefit, I hope others will not see this as a lack of respect for the sacrifices that soldiers have made to give me and my family that right, but a commitment to the way of Jesus over and beyond that. Through his life, he exemplified what it means to resist nonviolently, even to his death, knowing that his death wasn't the end, but that there was victory over death, a release from fear of death. And that to me is what hope is about.