National Memorial Day

“Did you have a nice Memorial Day weekend?” Isn’t that what people ask after the three-day federal holiday. The unofficial start of summer.

Although now, three days post- do you remember what you did this weekend? Or are you onto thinking about the upcoming one?

I’ve been thinking about freedom. I realize that I take freedom for granted. Unfortunately I always have and ashamedly, probably always will. Much as I would hope that I have an affinity for those in the military and their families, I probably think of them and the meaning of their service as I do the Memorial day holiday- infrequently.

It has been during these last pandemic fourteen months that any type of freedom has hit home. Because of lock-down, there wasn’t the freedom of movement that we once enjoyed. There were limitations to supplies and services. There were altered schedules. There was an assault/question (depending on one’s leanings) to the process of democracy. There were even long lines to get into grocery stores! All types of societal behavior to which we are unaccustomed. No more was there the instant gratification of impulse, “Let’s go here and do this or purchase that,” whenever we felt like it.

We are used to coming and going as we please. We are used to all the supplies and services that we can afford. We are used to freedom: in our thoughts, in our expressions, in our actions and in our speech.

Do we ever think how we can be so free?

I am in awe of the military men and women who exhibit incredible courage, judgement, and skill to put their lives on the line for the rest of us- who provide the means for us to be free while ironically do not have much freedom during their active service (military precision, being “one” unit, following orders).

Over the holiday, our family watched the Tom Hanks WWII movie, Greyhound. While it is a fictional tale (no real Captain Krause) it is historically accurate to the setting of the Battle of the Atlantic. The movie tells of the harrowing hours of “the black pit” when supply convoys to the Allies from the US are vulnerable to attack from German U-boats. Convoys traversed the Atlantic Ocean to provide aide to the allies during WWII. At both ends of the journey the convoy receives air coverage to spot and eliminate German U-boats. However there is a time (sixty hours) in the “middle” of the journey when the convoy does not have air coverage and they are vulnerable to attack. There are destroyer ships that patrol and try and protect the convoy but as is with all war, once bombs and torpedos begin moving, things get very confusing for all parties.

At one point, the captain of the destroyer, played by Tom Hanks is very troubled and discouraged by the loss of lives from one of the convoy ships. He had a choice to help the ship and possibly eliminate the enemy or stop and get survivors. He chose the survivors. He voices his regret on not making better decisions because the choices and options he has going forward is now limited. He (Captain Krause) says, “I wouldn’t need to take this risk if I’d been smarter yesterday.” To which his Lieutenant Commander Cole says, “What you did yesterday got us to today.”

While I know this post is “late”, it was done so deliberately: we should never forget those who have served and sacrificed. They are the ones who have gotten us to today. Memorial Day 2021 may be over, but our freedoms live on each day.

May we never forget.

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May we think of freedom, not as the right to do as we please, but as the opportunity to do what is right. Peter Marshall

Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it. Pericles

Stark Reality

Nope. Not a newly discovered pre-quel to the IronMan series.

Nor a desert landscape nor a parallel universe.

Unfortunately it is the description of the reality of today.

Stark. Meaning desolate. Barren. Severe or bare in appearance.

I read a 1918 interview with a Washington DC gentleman during the national shut-down due to the “Spanish” flu pandemic. He commented on life, “You had no community life, you had no school life, you had no church life, you had nothing.”

I have been struck by his observation these last couple of weeks. As I walk through the neighborhood I am aware of the quiet streets and the hush from the nearby college. No hustle and bustle of walking or driving students. The elementary school yard is empty and devoid of the cadence of children’s voices and screams. Any gathering places in parks have seats cordoned off. Peering in the window of some local restaurants, the seating arrangements look like they are doing a massive floor cleaning, not providing any service. When we walk outside, any encounter with another pedestrian is not a parallel passage but rather a wide berthed elliptical movement. Grocery and retail store shelves are still devoid of products. Our church sanctuary is completely empty: the Bibles and hymnals have been removed. There are no traditional Christmas trees or volumes of poinsettias, no decorations of Christmas’s past. Even our movements amount to nothing for we cannot come and go as we please. No visiting certain family members. No travel plans for holidays. No “just popping” into the store without masking, lining up and waiting. Our lives are barren of any interaction (or not much).

I feel that my own comments in 2020 could mirror the 1918 response: No community life, no school life, no church life, nothing. In our current pandemic stark reality, I wonder- are we truly left without community? Are we just independent islands- quarantined from others in our own little bubbles and pods? Beholden only to ourselves?

The stark reality is that while we may be self-isolated for now, we are not independent. We are co-dependent social creatures and that requires living a controlled freedom. Actually, I think we always have been living like that to some degree: the tension between freedom and responsibility. It is the tension between being independent and in control of our decisions of whoever, whatever, whenever, wherever, however, why-ever we want, pulling against with the role of responsibility that may subjugate my desires, wishes, preferences or needs for another’s desires, wishes, preferences or needs.

We view freedom as being independent. Solely independent. Self-sufficient. Yet, as anyone who has raised children, especially during the teenage years- the more freedom and independence one is granted is determined by one’s responsibility. The more responsible a teenager is, the more freedom she receives.

Similar to the idea of fire. In essence, one cannot just start off lighting fires. We do not let small children play with matches. Only after instruction, demo and careful observation do we allow someone who has never started a fire, to do so. There are guidelines in establishing a fire that must be heeded or the blaze could take over and ruin a house, devastate a landscape or even kill individuals. There is self-imposed control with fire. Even the structure of where one builds a fire determines that there are controls: one cannot just start a fire in the middle of one’s living room. (Course one can, but that will be the first and last time one does.) One ignites a fire in a fireplace or pit that can withstand the heat intensity. There is a physical restraint or restriction with fires.

So too, I think that we need to recognize that freedom/control/restraint/responsibility tension in our society and how we deal with the pandemic.

We can self-isolate and remove ourselves into our own little bubbles but we still need each other. If anything happens to us, God forbid we did get sick with COVID, we need each other for help and care. But more than anything else, we need each other because we are social creatures and have to interact. The stark reality is that we are not independent islands. If we want the freedom to do what we want, when we want it, then we will have to be responsible in seeing that we do not spread the virus and be responsible for our individual actions.

One of the ways we show our responsibility is in taking commonsense measures to help contain the spread of the virus: masking, socially distancing, hand washing. And, receiving the vaccine when it is our turn to do so.

I heard one of the best socially responsible responses to the actions we should take during this pandemic stark reality: (If the video link does not work, click HERE.)

What about you? Do you feel independent? Free? Responsible? For yourself? Others? As a child, were you allowed to do certain things? What were the conditions? Have you ever had your freedom revoked? How do you live into the tension between freedom and responsibility?

Stark can also mean “complete, extreme”. Maybe this stark reality in which we live is showing us the complete reality in which we need to live? Perhaps we will see that we are interdependent: weighing our individual need for freedom with the responsibility of caring for others.