Have you noticed how holidays end up becoming something other than originally intended?
Pick one, and think about it.
How about Thanksgiving.
For how many Americans is the fourth Thursday of November set aside to give thanks to God for the blessings of the past year—life, health, provision, protection…? How did it morph into a day of gorging oneself, football, and preparing for Black Friday?
Then there’s Christmas.
What would the celebration of Christ’s birth be without decorated trees, presents galore, and Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, right?
What got me going down this highway of thought is Memorial Day.
For some, the holiday has degenerated into nothing more than the “official kick-off to summer.” It’s celebrated with a cookout, trip to the lake, a picnic—you know, summer stuff. I’m thinking that’s an abuse of the intended day.
It’s also possible simply to misuse the holiday. This occurs when we recognize that the holiday is connected to military service, but then confuse it with similar holidays.
Memorial Day is not a time to honor all our soldiers in uniform. That’s Armed Forces Day. Did you even know that was a thing? It was first celebrated in 1950,
…when President Harry Truman wanted to establish a day that would jointly celebrate the branches of the U.S. military, which had recently been united under the new Department of Defense. Previously, military branches had organized their own, separate days of celebration.
The first Armed Forces Day was marked with parades and air shows around the country, including a march in Washington, D.C., of more than 10,000 troops and cadets from every part of the military.
This year, Armed Forces Day occurred on May 21. I don’t know about you, but I didn’t hear a thing about it. In fact, it doesn’t even show up in Google Calendar, even if you have the “US Holidays” option checked.
Memorial Day is also not the day to honor all veterans. That’s supposed to happen on Veterans Day, celebrated on November 11—the date marking the end of World War 1. It’s also a largely neglected day by most Americans, it seems. There’s certainly not much made of it publicly. At least Google Calendar recognizes it.
Many of us take advantage of Memorial Day to go to a cemetery where a loved one has been laid to rest, lay some flowers on the grave, and spend some time reflecting on their life. Now, that’s not a misuse of the holiday unless I think that’s what the day is supposed to be about. As good and worthwhile as it is to reflect upon the memory of our departed loved ones, Memorial Day was established for other purposes.
I saw a succinct meme the other day that helps keep these military related holidays distinct:
So, fairly simple and straightforward.
Memorial Day is set aside on the last Monday of May every year to remember the sacrifice of the hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who died fighting for our country.
I was curious to know just how large that number is.
According to one website, combat deaths from all wars from the American Revolution to today total 666, 441. Total deaths from wars exceed 1.3 million. Incidentally, that includes the Civil War, which accounts for about half of that total (290,000 Confederates / 364,000+ US Army). That’s incredibly awful, isn’t it?
In my lifetime (since 1958), more than 63,000 American soldiers have given their lives in service for our country.
Remembering them is what Memorial Day is all about. Anything else is a distortion of the holiday.
Ever wonder how important times like this get distorted?
Could be lots of reasons, I suppose.
The day might not be so significant if our lives haven’t personally been touched by the tragedy of a flag-draped coffin. My first real exposure to such loss occurred in late elementary school. A news report came over the radio announcing that a couple of boys—literally, they were barely out of high school—had been killed in Vietnam. They were from our small town in Ohio.
When it’s that close to you, the holiday comes to mean something important.
If we don’t stop to realize those men and women died for us, for our freedom, their death and the heartbreaking loss suffered by families unknown to us don’t touch us…don’t seem to affect us. Ah, but they do!
I suppose, too, we can be so wrapped up in our own little world—working hard, managing our households, juggling all of life’s demands—that when a holiday comes and we get a whole day off work, all we can think about is kicking back, relaxing with a burger, and enjoying the break.
Then there are the comparatively few among us who just live for the party—and the kickoff to summer party time is a perfect opportunity to let loose and have a blast. Sober thoughts of sacrifice are far removed from such minds.
The more I considered this holiday-degeneration phenomenon, I realized it’s not new!
In Israel’s calendar, God directed His people to set aside several times throughout the year as “holidays.” Each had its own distinct purpose—sort of like our Armed Forces Day, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day.
For example, Passover was to celebrate the deliverance from captivity in Egypt.
Yom Kippur—or the Day of Atonement—was set aside as an annual day of sacrifice and atonement for national sins.
The Feast of Tabernacles (or booths) commemorated the wilderness wanderings. It was timed in autumn after Yom Kippur to celebrate also a bountiful harvest season.
And so on.
But something dreadful happened to those religious holidays—established by Divine directive, remember.
Degeneration. Distortion. Anything but their intended purpose.
So far removed from God’s intention for those holidays, in fact, God said of them:
I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; and the peace offerings of your fattened animals, I will not look upon them. Take away from me the noise of your songs; to the melody of your harps I will not listen.
— Amos 5:21-23
He continues to explain what’s missing:
But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
— Amos 5:24
While offering sacrifices to God and feasting in great joy, the people failed to practice justice and righteousness—the very things the divinely established holidays should have promoted. Hence, God came to loathe them.
In other words, when the holidays’ purpose is distorted, it affects what people think and how they act. Something is lost; the replacement is far less noble. Distasteful, perhaps. Maybe even disgusting.
