Remember to Remember

Special Installment: Memorial Day
Congregations appreciate a biblical perspective on memorials and the importance of remembering. This topical sermon suggestion provides some ideas.

Human beings like to remember things ... special things. And they do so in remarkably creative ways.

Americans are no different.

Just think of the memorials in Washington, D.C. alone! Former presidents Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Washington are remembered by monuments, statues and obelisks. Wars and the soldiers who died in them are remembered -- World War II, Korea and Vietnam. Elsewhere in the country, tragic events are memorialized, like Pearl Harbor, the Oklahoma City bombing and 9/11. We've built these memorials so that we never forget.

Perhaps your city has a statue or monument that recalls people who died, the event in which they died or some catastrophe.

In addition to building things, we also set aside certain days to remember someone who meant a lot to our collective experience as Americans -- presidents Lincoln and Washington, for example, in February; and Martin Luther King Jr. in January. In July we set aside one day to celebrate our independence. In November, we...