Memorial Day

I grew up in Boalsburg, PA, one of several towns that claim to be the birthplace of Memorial Day. Boalsburg has a big military museum, and when I was we would often walk over to the grounds to stroll the paths or play on the tanks. In the evenings, the grounds are lovely and peaceful: while the sunset streaks the skies over the mountains with color, people walk their dogs or play on the grassy fields or hang over the wooden bridge to look into the stream.

Just after I graduated from college, I was invited to give the annual Memorial Day speech at Boalsburg's graveyard service. I was honored to be asked, but I tried to explain that I was a pacifist and I wasn't sure I was the best person to choose. The organizer was undeterred, however, and I set about trying to figure out something to say that would honor the veterans in attendance without compromising what I believe. I came back to the image of the tanks on the military museum grounds. One is parked in a stand of pine trees, and we have a picture of me and my two brothers climbing on it and grinning. The absolute innocence of that picture--the fact that for us, a tank was a kind of interesting jungle gym rather than a threat-- reminded me of the idea of turning swords into ploughshares, the idealistic vision of a world in which the instruments of war become tools for growth.

And how do we get there? I wish I knew. One of my favorite sprititual writers, the Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, offers one suggestion:

Can the peace movement talk in loving speech, showing the way for peace? I think that will depend on whether the people in the peace movement can be peace. Because without being peace, we cannot do anything for peace. If we cannot smile, we cannot help other people to smile. If we are not peaceful, then we cannot contribute to the peace movement....Peace work means, first of all, being peace.

This Memorial Day finds me in a somber mood. I think of my friend who faces deployment in the Middle East and doesn't shrink from the thought of leaving behind her daughters to do her duty. I think of the soldiers who have returned to us with wounded bodies or minds. I think of the soldiers who have given their lives and left behind mourning friends and family. I think of the armed conflicts around the world, and I wish all children could grow up as happy and as safe as I did.