It happened yesterday. After a night of strong wind and rain, the morning weather let up enough for me to take my daily walk. About a mile from the house, as I was passing under some overhanging limbs, I heard a woodpecker overhead. I looked up trying to locate him; but to no avail.
As I continued on, I felt something thud against my right hand. Glancing down, I realized that a bird had just pooped on me. Disgusted, I looked up again, just in time to see what was likely the culprit taking flight and heading off through the woods. Frustrated at my inability to hold him accountable, I let fly a few choice words in his direction, if for no other purpose, at least to soothe my anger.
It was then that I realized I had actually been pretty lucky only to get hit by what I had. After all, the roadbed all about me was littered with the remains of fallen limbs and branches from the storm the night before. I had merely suffered a blow to my ego, not to life or limb.
And then yet another realization came to me. The date was December 7th. Exactly eighty-one years earlier, on that very date, my countrymen came under assault from above in a placed called Pearl Harbor. And the injuries they sustained that day were infinitely more than mere affronts to their dignity; they were outright lethal.
In John chapter 15, verse 13, Jesus told us that there is no greater expression of love than to lay one’s life down on behalf of others. Of course, He practiced what He preached. According to Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 2, Christ proved His love for us loved us by giving His life as a sacrifice on our behalf. For that I will always be eternally grateful.
I will also be grateful for the sacrifice of others on my behalf. It has been said that we are never more like Christ than when we are willing to follow His example of sacrificing ourselves on behalf of others. For this reason, I hold the 2,335 military and 68 civilian fatalities along with the 1,143 military and 35 civilian causalities suffered at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in the highest regard.
In the days and weeks after Pearl Harbor, a battle cry arose that would sustain America and carry her throughout the dark days of World War Two. That cry was: “Remember Pearl Harbor”. I’m glad I remembered Pearl Harbor yesterday. I hope I will never forget the events of that tragic day. Above all, I hope I will never forget the sacrifice lain down that day by so many men and women on my behalf.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-2.htm.
PEARL HARBOR INFORMATION:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor;
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor;
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66-1.htm.
As I continued on, I felt something thud against my right hand. Glancing down, I realized that a bird had just pooped on me. Disgusted, I looked up again, just in time to see what was likely the culprit taking flight and heading off through the woods. Frustrated at my inability to hold him accountable, I let fly a few choice words in his direction, if for no other purpose, at least to soothe my anger.
It was then that I realized I had actually been pretty lucky only to get hit by what I had. After all, the roadbed all about me was littered with the remains of fallen limbs and branches from the storm the night before. I had merely suffered a blow to my ego, not to life or limb.
And then yet another realization came to me. The date was December 7th. Exactly eighty-one years earlier, on that very date, my countrymen came under assault from above in a placed called Pearl Harbor. And the injuries they sustained that day were infinitely more than mere affronts to their dignity; they were outright lethal.
In John chapter 15, verse 13, Jesus told us that there is no greater expression of love than to lay one’s life down on behalf of others. Of course, He practiced what He preached. According to Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 2, Christ proved His love for us loved us by giving His life as a sacrifice on our behalf. For that I will always be eternally grateful.
I will also be grateful for the sacrifice of others on my behalf. It has been said that we are never more like Christ than when we are willing to follow His example of sacrificing ourselves on behalf of others. For this reason, I hold the 2,335 military and 68 civilian fatalities along with the 1,143 military and 35 civilian causalities suffered at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 in the highest regard.
In the days and weeks after Pearl Harbor, a battle cry arose that would sustain America and carry her throughout the dark days of World War Two. That cry was: “Remember Pearl Harbor”. I’m glad I remembered Pearl Harbor yesterday. I hope I will never forget the events of that tragic day. Above all, I hope I will never forget the sacrifice lain down that day by so many men and women on my behalf.
SCRIPTURE SOURCES:
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/ephesians/5-2.htm.
PEARL HARBOR INFORMATION:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor;
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor;
http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq66-1.htm.