Shat
terd
Men
The hidden half of domestic violence
Memorial Day 2009
In the past week, I have had several people send me e-mails with cartoons about
Memorial Day. One that impressed me most showed a pack of hog dogs labeled
the high cost of food. It
then showed a gas pump with the title, the high cost of gas, then it showed what
could have been Arlington
National Cemetery and this was labeled the high
cost of freedom.
This shows that freedom is not free. Many take it for granted because they never
had to pay this cost. Some pay all they had and yet they themselves never
had a chance to enjoy this freedom we too often take for granted.
Still, the cartoon I mentioned above did not include one very and actually the
most important cost of real freedom but I will get back to this at the end of
this message.
If I asked when Memorial Day
was first observed, most would get it wrong. Former slaves began American
tradition 144 years ago in Charleston
On a Monday morning that spring, (1865) nearly 10,000 former slaves marched onto
the grounds of the old Washington Race Course, where wealthy Charleston planters
and socialites had gathered in old times. During the final year of the war, the
track had been turned into a prison camp. Hundreds of Union soldiers died there.
For two weeks in April, former slaves had worked to bury the soldiers. Now they
would give them a proper funeral.
The procession began at 9 a.m. as 2,800 black school children marched by their
graves, softly singing "John
Brown's Body."
Soon, their voices would give way to the sermons of preachers, then prayer and
— later — picnics. It was May 1, 1865, but they called it Decoration
Day.
On that day, former Charleston slaves started a tradition that would come to be
known as Memorial Day. These former slaves decided the people who died for their
emancipation should be honored.
http://www.postandc
ourier.com/ news/2009/ may/24/the_ first_memorial_ day83450/
The official birthplace of Memorial Day is Waterloo,
New York. The village was credited with being the place of origin because
it observed the day on May 5, 1866, and each year thereafter.
http://en.wikipedia
.org/wiki/ Memorial_ Day
There are many that will use all the freedom that those that gave their live so
that we can have but they will not do anything to assure we keep this freedom.
I know many that will never serve but they have no problem taking those they
feel offended them to court...a freedom assured by those that gave all. This
would be like going to a neighbor to eat every meal but never giving anything to
provide for these meal. All they do is eat but never help prepare it or to
clean up after it. I did not include that they do not provide for it
because they do pay taxes. (mostly to avoid jail?)
For those that do not realize this cost, I recommend that you watch a movie such
as "Saving
Private Ryan" This movie starts with an elderly man going to a
cemetery in France and finding one special grave. We later learn that this
man was...Private Ryan. We then learn that the grace he is at is for the
man that went out to save him. He died doing so and as this man was dying,
Private Ryan asked him why he did it. Ryan was told to "deserve his
sacrifice" The man that gave his life for Private Ryan wanted Ryan to
do something with his life that would make his sacrifice worth while.
I wonder....I wonder what those who gave all for our freedom would think of what
we have made of it? Do we deserve their sacrifice? Would
they do it again if they knew what this nation has become?
Oh, I know....you are only one person...but we won our freedom one person at a
time...when one man joined another, then another until we had an army. Is it not
time to join with others that want to assure we keep this freedom?
We can become A Formidable Enemy
http://shatterdmen.
com/Enemy. htm
And Take Back Society
http://shatterdmen.
com/Take% 20Back%20Society .htm
Or we can keep our head in the sand such as this
http://shatterdmen.
com/Head% 20in%20Sand. htm
I mentioned that the cartoon I talked about did not include one very and
actually the most important cost of real freedom. It is the cost of our
eternal freedom. The next panel should show a hill with a Cross on it.
The Price of Salvation
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
(John 3:16)
2 Corinthians 3:17
Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is
liberty.
The nations that have been the closest to following Biblical principals have
also allowed the most freedom in their societies. I do believe the reason
for this is that this helps each one to have a right relationship to God and we
can not have a good relationship with each other.
God's word tells us that we serve one of two masters. We will serve either
GOD or we serve satan. Jesus knows that satan is a very cruel task master
and we can see this by looking at alcoholic, drug addicts and many others that
are addicted to things that harm them. Jesus therefore told us
in Matthew 11:28 "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest."
You too can find this rest. Jesus is only a whisper way. This link
will tell you how:
http://shatterdmen.
com/first_ step.htm
(please click above to vote for this site)
JUNE is Domestic Violence Against Men Awareness Month