As I write this, Memorial Day weekend is pending. I spent the day today in preparation for this special time as I cut the grass at the local cemetery at the end of our road down by the lake. As I have previously blogged, even though I never knew any of the people buried there, I do this as a way of giving back.
In moving about the cemetery, I have become somewhat familiar with the various names, dates, and epitaphs that adorn the numerous headstones and monuments found there. As might be expected, some are quite grandiose, while others are anything but. Indeed, a great many are nothing more than small standing stones containing no inscription whatsoever.
Either way, all of them are important; for each and every one of them, be it an ornate and intricately carved monument or a mere stone slab, marks the place of internment of a human life that was once lived out in this world.
And yet, of the nearly two hundred such markers, for me, one stands out above the rest. It is a simple, flat, rectangular stone slab recording the name of a man named William B. Carpenter, the date he was born in this world, the date he died in the midst of World War Two, and the fact that he was buried at sea! The marker itself was obviously placed there amidst his forbears’ headstones in order to acknowledge these facts.
While I never knew this man in this world, and while I may never know the specifics of either his service or of his death, there is one thing I do know. He clearly gave all he had to give for the country he loved, for his fellow citizens (including me), for his immediate friends and family, and, above all, for the principles in which he believed.
Each time I pass by this marker on my mower, I am given pause for reflection. I thank God for this man, as well as a myriad of others just like him who gave all they had to give, who laid down their lives, and who thereby helped to secure the freedoms I enjoy each and every day of my life as an American citizen.
I am also reminded that It was Jesus, Himself, once told us (in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 13) that “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
I do not know who William B. Carpenter was. But I do know that he laid down his life for me and for my freedoms. And for that, I am now; and I always will be, extremely thankful!
Of course, Mr. Carpenter’s willing sacrifice reminds me of another individual, Who also laid down His life for me. Only the Latter’s sacrifice was not just physical; it was also spiritual. I refer, of course, to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on an old rugged cross in order that I might have live, and that I might have live life to the full - not only in this world, but for all eternity.
Thank God for an individual named William B. Carpenter. Thank God even more for an individual named Jesus Christ. The former willingly died for my earthly freedom. The latter willingly died for both my earthly and for my heavenly freedom.
By the way, what each of these did for me, my friend, they also did for you! I trust that you recognize this, especially on Memorial Day weekend.
I leave you with the words of the Dottie Rambo’s classic song, “Remind Me, Dear Lord”…
Roll back the curtain of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.
Just remember I'm a human, and humans forget.
So remind me, remind me dear Lord.
Nothing good have I done to deserve God's own son.
I'm not worthy of the scars in his hands.
Yet he chose the road to Calvary to die in my stead.
Why he loved me I can't understand.
Roll back the curtain of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.
Just remember I'm a human and humans forget.
So remind me, remind dear Lord.
Amen! Even so, remind me, remind me, Dear Lord!
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.
SONG SOURCE:
https://www.songlyrics.com/dottie-rambo/remind-me-dear-lord-lyrics/.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/a-most-memorable-memorial-day.
In moving about the cemetery, I have become somewhat familiar with the various names, dates, and epitaphs that adorn the numerous headstones and monuments found there. As might be expected, some are quite grandiose, while others are anything but. Indeed, a great many are nothing more than small standing stones containing no inscription whatsoever.
Either way, all of them are important; for each and every one of them, be it an ornate and intricately carved monument or a mere stone slab, marks the place of internment of a human life that was once lived out in this world.
And yet, of the nearly two hundred such markers, for me, one stands out above the rest. It is a simple, flat, rectangular stone slab recording the name of a man named William B. Carpenter, the date he was born in this world, the date he died in the midst of World War Two, and the fact that he was buried at sea! The marker itself was obviously placed there amidst his forbears’ headstones in order to acknowledge these facts.
While I never knew this man in this world, and while I may never know the specifics of either his service or of his death, there is one thing I do know. He clearly gave all he had to give for the country he loved, for his fellow citizens (including me), for his immediate friends and family, and, above all, for the principles in which he believed.
Each time I pass by this marker on my mower, I am given pause for reflection. I thank God for this man, as well as a myriad of others just like him who gave all they had to give, who laid down their lives, and who thereby helped to secure the freedoms I enjoy each and every day of my life as an American citizen.
I am also reminded that It was Jesus, Himself, once told us (in the New Testament Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 13) that “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
I do not know who William B. Carpenter was. But I do know that he laid down his life for me and for my freedoms. And for that, I am now; and I always will be, extremely thankful!
Of course, Mr. Carpenter’s willing sacrifice reminds me of another individual, Who also laid down His life for me. Only the Latter’s sacrifice was not just physical; it was also spiritual. I refer, of course, to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on an old rugged cross in order that I might have live, and that I might have live life to the full - not only in this world, but for all eternity.
Thank God for an individual named William B. Carpenter. Thank God even more for an individual named Jesus Christ. The former willingly died for my earthly freedom. The latter willingly died for both my earthly and for my heavenly freedom.
By the way, what each of these did for me, my friend, they also did for you! I trust that you recognize this, especially on Memorial Day weekend.
I leave you with the words of the Dottie Rambo’s classic song, “Remind Me, Dear Lord”…
Roll back the curtain of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.
Just remember I'm a human, and humans forget.
So remind me, remind me dear Lord.
Nothing good have I done to deserve God's own son.
I'm not worthy of the scars in his hands.
Yet he chose the road to Calvary to die in my stead.
Why he loved me I can't understand.
Roll back the curtain of memory now and then.
Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.
Just remember I'm a human and humans forget.
So remind me, remind dear Lord.
Amen! Even so, remind me, remind me, Dear Lord!
SCRIPTURE:
https://biblehub.com/john/15-13.htm;
https://biblehub.com/john/10-10.htm.
SONG SOURCE:
https://www.songlyrics.com/dottie-rambo/remind-me-dear-lord-lyrics/.
SEE ALSO:
https://www.cleoejacksoniii.com/my-ongoing-thoughts/a-most-memorable-memorial-day.