A Veteran's Day Reminder

Just before the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month of 2021,

I received an important lesson.

 

I was standing outside the gate of the Veterans Memorial in Broadway

When I noticed two vases of roses sitting on a table.

Distracted by how many people were at what I wrongly assumed would be a small event,

I didn’t read what the note said with the vases.

Again, I made a wrong assumption.

I figured that the roses were for sale to raise money for a Veterans cause.

I had no money with me,

So I didn’t entertain thoughts of buying one.

Instead, I stood there overwhelmed by the number of people surrounding me

And wondered where I should stand for the duration of the ceremony.

 

Then it happened.

A man,

A veteran,

Offered me a rose.

I said, “No, thank you.”

He said, “Are you sure?”

I said, “Yes. I don’t need one.”

Then he said, “Yes. You do. Please. Take this rose offered to you by an old man.

It would make this Veteran happy.”

So I took the rose.

 

I felt about an inch high.

 

I’d become so jaded by a society

That too often comes with strings attached,

That I quietly insulted a man who offered his life in service to that very society

That more often hurls insults in his face

Than says, “Thank you.”

 

God: For the men and women who chose (and still choose) to serve a cause bigger than themselves, thank you. For those remembered and those forgotten, thank you. Forgive us when we do not properly honor those who have gone before us and humble us to receive the blessings that their lives still offer. Help us to give, God. And help us to receive. With no wrong assumptions. And no strings attached. Amen.