Memorial Days Past

I am sitting in my office this Memorial Day, May 25, 2026, thinking, how can I best honor the

memory of those countless men and women who have sacrificed their precious lives in

providing their military service for the benefit of those of us who are celebrating life in this great, God-blessed nation. Maybe one way will be to write this article for our next newsletter.

On February 12, 2016, one of my student veterans at Lipscomb University in Nashville, TN,

Robert Phelps submitted the required paper on the effects of moral and spiritual injury on our veterans. I now share with you a paragraph from that paper.

“My prayer for veterans and for the family and loved ones of those affected is that God would work through those close to them and move their hearts to emphasize with the unique burden of warriors. Beneath the armor there is skin and blood, bones and a heart. Every person ultimately desires to be loved and to love in return. Scripture tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully created by God, and in His essence. We have to allow Him to work through us so that we might be renewed in our understanding and application of the experience of war. I pray that that God would restore faith when needed and mend the wounds, so that through their strengthening veterans are empowered to share wisdom and be protectors of life. We, as sons of Creation,are only ever weak when we stand alone, because where two or more gather He is there.”

How would you have graded that paper if you were the teacher?

Isn’t it wonderful that our nation has chosen Memorial Day to celebrate the lives given, to make such days and individuals who have such a heart as Mr. Phelps, to stop for a few minutes and remember our veterans? We are blessed with a nation that, although not perfect, remains a blessing to us and to the world. And we are blessed with people who continue to value and appreciate the good of this nation and the good of so many who continue to serve in various ways.

One of the blessings that we at God’s Word for Warriors enjoy is the fact that we are

privileged to work with such people in our nation, veterans and nonveterans, who make it

possible to be a partner with others to bring valued and needed love to veterans in need, “to love and be loved” as they face many challenges in being, in the words of British soldiers of WW I, “Peace Makers,” bringing freedom and justice to many places in the world.

Let us use occasions such as past Memorial Days to pay tribute to our veterans throughout America's long history who have freely and unselfishly given up their homes and loved ones to serve this nation and its people with honor and fidelity.

I wish to close this article by recalling the words of General Colin L. Powell (1937 - 2021),

US Army, diplomat, and past U.S. Secretary of State: “The nation owes a great debt to its veterans, whose service to the nation spans every decade, every year, every day of our country's existence. Through untold courage and sacrifice, America’s veterans have secured the liberty that the founding fathers sought to establish. In times of darkness and danger as well as in times of peace and prosperity, America’s veterans have been there. We have 20 million living veterans. I am proud to be one.”