We celebrate Veteran’s Day annually but it’s far oftener that we should pay homage to those men and women who so willingly serve in some branch of the services to protect the rest of us. \u00a0Every moment of their deployment puts their life on the line and they do it willingly; they have not been drafted. \u00a0Each of these individuals has made the decision to put the lives of others before their own: that decision includes our lives as well as the lives of their comrades.<\/p>\n
What they too often get for their courage, their commitment and their loyalty is silence from the rest of us when they return. \u00a0Perhaps we have praised an individual we personally know, and if so, that’s great; but have we freely expressed the gratitude that every man and woman deserves and longs to hear? \u00a0Probably not. \u00a0At least I’d have to say I have been much too silent.<\/p>\n
It’s not my intention to foist guilt upon us in this post. \u00a0I don’t believe in guilting others, but I do think we need to reflect on every veteran’s remarkable courage juxtaposed with our deafening silence. \u00a0We can change that behavior, however. \u00a0Immediately. \u00a0Perhaps we choose not to change how we feel about war. \u00a0And that’s a perspective we are free to cultivate. \u00a0That’s not what this post is about. \u00a0My point is to remind us that life is simply a classroom, it’s about righting our wrongs, about admitting when we failed to live up to the values that were modeled for us in our family of origin or among our friends and coworkers.<\/p>\n
War is painful. \u00a0It’s tragic. \u00a0It kills and maims tens of thousands throughout the world. \u00a0It’s dehumanizing and in most instances, it’s absolutely unnecessary. \u00a0We observe the many conflicts around the globe on the television nightly, passing judgment on those more hawkish than ourselves but seldom expressing in a calm, rational way our personal displeasure about war, if indeed, we feel displeasure. \u00a0Perhaps that’s why we end up being silent in regard to the returning veterans. \u00a0We mistakenly think that honoring them honors war. \u00a0On the contrary. \u00a0They served because they felt “called.” \u00a0It’s time for the rest of us to feel “called” to let them know their service matters. \u00a0To all of us.<\/p>\n
Honoring others is an activity we need not limit to the men and women who serve, thus protecting all of us. \u00a0Honoring others is the primary lesson each one of us has been invited to learn in this life. \u00a0Honor the person who waits on you at the grocery, the drugstore, the restaurant. \u00a0Honor the strangers you pass on the street by seeing them, smiling perhaps, at least letting them know their presence has not been ignored. \u00a0What we do to one, we do to all, according to a multitude of spiritual teachings. \u00a0Practicing it on a daily basis will make it easier to express it in those instances where it deeply matters.<\/p>\n
We can start any day over. \u00a0Why not begin with the commitment to show others they matter regardless of who they are and what they have chosen to do on their specific journey. Begin now. \u00a0Now.<\/p>\n
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We celebrate Veteran’s Day annually but it’s far oftener that we should pay homage to those men and women who so willingly serve in some branch of the services to protect the rest of us. \u00a0Every moment of their deployment puts their life on the line and they do it willingly; they have not been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reflections-in-the-mirror-you-and-yourself","category-your-experience-strength-and-hope"],"yoast_head":"\n