The Journey 148

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Read: Mathew 26: 20-30
Today is  Memorial Day. Coming from India, especially from the state of Kerala, the Mallu’s have a state sponsored “Sabbath” other than Sunday. This state sponsored  Sabbath is known as “Hartal” or “Bandh”. This is the day when everyone goes to a relaxed mood, staying indoors watching some of the favourite movies on cable TV, and having some quiet time with the family over lunch. If there is no hartal or a bandh in a fortnight the Mallu's gets disturbed. Strange. But why did the hartal come in the first place?. It was a way of protest. But today, the whole concept of protest or what is the reason for protest is never taken into consideration. We don't want to remember, we only want to relax and enjoy. I think this is also becoming a feature in the life of the Americans especially  when the nation celebrated memorial day, in remembrance of all those soldiers who laid down their life for the sake of the nation. Today it is more about barbecue and partying and shopping for memorial day sales. One of the greatest problem that we face in this century is memory loss. Loss of Memory is not a psychological problem but a social issue, a mechanism consciously devised by us, to conveniently forget all those “people  who gave their tomorrow for our today” which is a very famous quote on memorial day. Thus on this memorial  we need to affirm the importance of memory and remembrance. Listen to the heartbreaking incident of Rose Mary Sabo Brown and Leslie Sabo Jr which was broadcast by the news agencies this week. Both of them got married and spend only one month together before Leslie Sabo left for the Vietnam War in 1969. Six months later he died. For the last forty two years, what Rose Mary did was to keep the  memory of her late husband alive and also see to it that his service and sacrifice is honoured by the nation. He was recommended for the Medal of Honor by his unit, but somehow the recommendation of the unit was over looked. Finally after forty two years, it was on May 16, that President Obama, presented the Medal of Honor to Rose Mary Sabo Brown.  It is in bringing to  memory that we affirm the place and importance of other in our life.
This week we start on a new theme “Transformation in  the life of the sick and the suffering”. The portion taken for our meditation is from Mathew 26: 20-30. This is context when the Jews are celebrating the Passover meal and Jesus celebrates the last supper. As he celebrates the last supper, he brings a new meaning to the Jewish concept of the Passover meal, where the Jews remembered the deliverance that God had given to them. Jesus breaks bread and also takes the cup as a symbolic representation of the sacrifice that He was going to do on the cross. But the meaning of the sacrifice become timeless and eternal, when Jesus commands his disciples  to continue this celebration of the fellowship meal, a sacrament, till he comes again. This celebration has to become a conscious act of remembrance, both by the individual and the  church to remember our Lord and the redemptive sacrifice that  He did for us. Thus for a Christian, life without memory, and remembrance makes ones Christian living  meaningless. Thus on this memorial day let us affirm in our life the place of remembrance and memory so that we will never forget those who made a difference in our life.

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