A Letter To The Editor
A Sermon at St. John’s By-The-Sea, Kahalu, Hawaii
May 28, 2000 by The Rev. Walt Harris
You know that I have never used the pulpit to make a political statement or use it as a
I am reminded that in Deuteronomy Aaron the Priest was instructed to make a breastplate of
The majority of our children I am saddened to say don’t have a clue as to what Memorial Day
If we don’ t tell our children about deeds of evil and deeds of love, sacrifice and wisdom
We share in the precious sacrifice of a God and Father who gave up His Son in order that we may
Finally, I thought about how I would get the Editor of the Honolulu Advertiser to print my
MEMORIAL DAY MESSAGE
FROM A DUSTOFFer
It would be trite for me to try to define love for it has so many meanings, save one and it comes
from the lips of Jesus in the Gospel of John (John 15:13) "Greater love has no man than to lay
down his life for his friends". This is Memorial weekend and tomorrow we will celebrate
Memorial Day. I have been struggling this morning with events of this weekend and I must admit
to you my church family that I am angry. I got up on Saturday morning and opened the Honolulu
Advertiser and it printed not a word concerning Memorial Day. I thought to myself that Hawaii is where
America entered World War II at the tragedy of Pearl Harbor and surely tomorrow there would be
where an article on the significance of Memorial Day. This morning I arose at 5:00 p.m. as is my
custom in preparation for Sunday and fixed coffee and opened the Honolulu Advertiser and to my
surprise and anger and ultimate hurt there was not a word printed concerning Memorial Day! Not
even an editorial! There was an article about how the Pacific Region will be beefed up by the
Pentagon because of its economic and political importance. I looked again and found another
article
about how we are loosing veterans daily and the need for more gravesites and
cemeteries. At last after going through a paper that is at least 4 inches thick, there was a
little calendar that announced the events of the weekend.
personal tool of politics. That is not what the word and love of God is about. And, I have never
to my knowledge, used or twisted the words of Jesus to present my personal political views. In
the days of old, prophets were not soothsayers or predictors of the future. Prophets were
spokesmen for God and advisors to the king and the society in which they lived to remind them
of their call and pledge to the righteousness or rightness of God, and to speak out when people
did wrong in the eyes of their maker. I am called to be a prophet and a prophet must be a prophet!
gold with the names of the ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel as a Memorial to wear when he
went before the Lord to pray for guidance in the affairs of the people. I am also reminded that
Aaron made a shrine of stone dedicated to the ancestors of Israel before they crossed the Jordan
and reentered the land of milk and honey as promised by God, a land that their ancestors were
born in. A Memorial is not just a list of names of those who have gone before. A name has a
history associated with it and a Memorial is the recalling of a history that leads not only to
mourning but also to deeds of love, sacrifice and wisdom.
is all about. Ask them. They don’t know that in the Twentieth Century, more people were killed
and wounded because of war than all of the centuries that preceded it! They don’ know that more
people were put to death and were and are persecuted because of their religious beliefs in the
Twentieth Century than all of the centuries that have preceded it! Jews, Christians, Moslems,
Hindus, Buddhist and others continue to be killed and persecuted. Our children don’t know about
WW I or WW II or Korea, or Vietnam or Desert Storm or many, many other wars that have gone on
throughout this century. The world is a dangerous place and if you don’t believe me just pick up
the paper and read about violent events in almost every place of the world: Pacific Islands,
Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Indochina, India, Pakistan, the Middle East, Western Europe,
Ireland, Central and South America and the most tragic of all, Africa.
through Memorial, the world is doomed to repeat the history of violence and ego of the past.
What would the world be today if Hitler, Mussolini, Tojo, Nazism, Fascism and Communism had
prevailed? Would we have the freedom to add a 4 inch thick newspaper of page after page of
Memorial Day Sales? Oh yes, the paper was filled with Memorial Day. Go home and look at it!
It is filled with page after page of Memorial Day Sales offers and not a word on this Sunday about
the real Memorial Day.
have a freedom of spirit and a freedom from the power of death over us. We also share the precious
sacrifice of mothers, fathers, family and friends of those who gave up their sons
and daughters in order that we might have a freedom that few have known in the world today.
Those sons and daughters did not want to die. Jesus said to his disciples, "You did not choose
me, I chose you". The majority of those we Memorialize did not choose to give up their lives.
While many volunteered, we chose them and "drafted" them into a commitment that they took on
and ultimately fulfilled. We must tell our children. We must give them wisdom and we must celebrate
Memorial Day! If not, all will be in vain and I promise, history will repeat itself.
objection to their lack of Memorial Day duty to their public readers and to our children who
will represent us in a future and place we cannot go. I thought I would tell him that I was a
retired Air Force Chaplain. I thought I would tell him that I had served on active duty, reserve
and Air National Guard. I thought that I would tell him that I was a Vietnam Veteran and an Army
"Dustoff" medical evacuation helicopter pilot; a group of flyers who had the highest casualty
rate of any pilot and crewmembers in the Vietnam War. I thought I would tell him that I had two
trips across the pond to Nam for a total of 18 months. And……..it dawned on me that the only way
he would probably take time to read this and act is to tell him I was canceling my subscription!
Like you and the prophets of old, I need someone to keep me up on the events of the community and
world. I hope I don’t have to cancel.