Memorial
Day Prayer 2017 at West Wharf, Madison, CT – Pastor Greg Scalzo
Invocation delivered at the Madison, CT Memorial Day
Ceremony at West Wharf
Almighty
God, Creator of heaven and earth, You have made
mankind in Your image. And You have graced
us with the ability to remember and have given us the capacity to be
thankful. And certainly
it is sad when memories fade or are lost.
And ungratefulness can be all too common a characteristic of the human
condition. But when a nation forgets, when
a people no longer remember why they were blessed nor the sacrifices made by
those who gave their lives to defend the nation’s just principles—when a
country no longer shows thankfulness nor honors those who died in service to
something special and great and for the very existence of that country, then it
is truly tragic. May it not be so, may
it never be so, for these United States of America.
But Almighty
God, we remember. We remember
what great price was paid and what tears were shed by those that never had
their loved ones return from war. And we
are grateful, so grateful, that there were those who stood up, took arms, and
risked their lives for our land and for the freedom which generations of
Americans have enjoyed.
May our
presence here this day be a sign of our Memorial. May the wreaths and salutes be a symbol of
our thankfulness and the honor we wish to bestow upon these fallen champions.
And may we
be thankful and ever remember the promise of Your Word, that we will see them
once again—those we knew and those we have never met, but who have mightily
impacted our lives—we will see them at the resurrection of the dead. For You, O God, have provided eternity.
Thank you our Father. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
© 2017 Gregory J. Scalzo