It can't be said enough: Preserving our freedoms has cost much blood and sacrifice.

Good morning and welcome back to this place where many keystrokes are used to typically say so little. It is Tuesday, May 28, 2019. I trust you had a good Memorial Holiday weekend. I also hope that we all took some time to appreciate those who have paid the ultimate price in the fight for freedom while serving in our armed forces. I know we did. We did in our service at our local fellowship on Sunday morning. The wife and I watched a number of the many programs on TV devoted to recognizing the more than 1.5 million military individuals who have died for our nation. And, I had my own private recollections of a couple of high school friends who died in the Vietnam War. We have a lot to be thankful for and a most important one has been the men and women who have worn the uniform and paid the price. May God bless their memory and may God bring comfort to their families. Amen.

I overhead someone talking about a meme he had seen where two pictures were put side by side. The first was one of a crowded beach with folks enjoying their holiday. The other was a war photo of the beach at Normandy where 4,000 Americans died in the initial invasion. That invasion helped bring to an end WWII and it helped guarantee that folks could be at the beach as depicted in the first photo. This year marks the 75th anniversary of this military achievement, (June 6, 1944). That is a vivid reminder of how tyranny was defeated in WWII. Of course, that war was just one of the many conflicts where Americans were killed and wounded. Sadly, it has been a continuing part of our history since our founding. It continues today as our service men and women are stationed in harm's way in dangerous parts of our world. I was also intrigued by the movie, "The Young Lions" from 1958. It starred Dean Martin, Montgomery Clift, and Marlon Brando, along with an impressive cast. I may have been aware of this movie, but, I don't recall ever seeing the entire movie but I found it to be very moving as it depicted the impact that serving in the military during wartime had on different individuals. It was on the classic movie network. Black and white. I recommend it.

Our nation is currently in a state of chaos in terms of its identity and its political stability. While this may not be new in terms of how our Republic functions, it certainly is more of 'the norm' than I can ever remember. In addition to the outrageous personalities involved today, the fundamental differences between those vying for power challenge the very foundations upon which we were founded. The Constitution, the Rule of Law, the function of government in a free society are the things that our heroes have shed their blood to protect. While some write all of this off as politics, I firmly believe the assaults against our democratic principles could lead to a total reshaping of who we are as a nation. As we consider the cost of freedom it behooves us all to seek God and His help for the preservation of this great freedom experiment He has blessed so bountifully in the past. We need His intervention. That's my reading. That's my prayer. Yes. Amen. ....More later.