elsie item issue 69 - USS Landing Craft Infantry

The Chaplain’s Corner
The Power of Remembrance
A FEW YEARS AGO, Dr. Fred Craddock went back to the little Tennessee town,
where he grew up. His brother was ill, so he wanted to visit him. Late one
Sunday afternoon, Craddock decided to drop by the small Disciples Church
where he had worshipped as a child. He went in, saw a friend, and they walked
around together. Dr. Craddock noticed the church had installed some new stained glass windows in the
sanctuary. He examined them carefully; they were beautiful. But, he did not recognize any of the names
on the memorial plaques. He asked his friend about them.
“Fred,” his friend replied, “we got a bargain on those windows. They were made for a church in
St. Louis, but the stained glass company got the measurements wrong, so they didn’t fit. They decided
to sell the windows for whatever they could get. We bought them, and for a while we wondered what to
do about the memorials. Then we decided to leave them like they were. They remind us there are people
who served the kingdom we didn’t know anything about.”
“People who served we don’t know anything about.” Sounds a lot like the LCIs in WWII, doesn’t
it? Little ships and crews that served admirably, performed courageously, and fulfilled their purpose.
In his letter to the Philippians, the Apostle Paul writes: “I thank my God every time I remember
you,” (1:3, NIV). He then reminds this little group of people to remember their purpose in life.
Paul knew that to lose one’s purpose for life was a tragic experience. It usually involves a lack of
appreciation for the past, no responsibility for the present, and no concern for the future. Such misdirection
in life can only produce disaster.
In the hopes that modern civilization must never forget the painful lessons that World War II and
the Holocaust taught us, the distinguished Jewish writer Elie Wiesel delivered a lecture entitled: “What
the Ancient Masters Can Teach Us.” He started in the Book of Genesis and went all the way to the biblical
character Job. The message is outstanding as Wiesel lifts the central truths from biblical stories to
instruct us. He ends the speech by saying that it is a great tragedy to have an important message to
share, but to have no messengers. An even greater tragedy is to have a great message and a grand
messenger, but the people do not listen to the messenger or the message. However, Wiesel says, the
greatest tragedy is to have a great message, a great messenger, and the people even listening to the
messenger, but to forget the message and the fact that it was from God.
Yes, the power of remembrance is very important, if a nation and civilization are to survive. Our
memories must give us guidance and hope. Memories should be a blueprint for future aspirations. We
must neither forget the message nor the messenger, but most importantly that the author of the message
was God.
All Saints Day is November 1. It is traditionally a time for celebrating the power of remembrance.
It tells us that we are here today because of the faithful witness of a group of people, some of whose
names we don’t know. But, the assurance of All Saints Day is that no life is forgotten. If God is good,
then all that is good in the world is never lost.
Thank you, crew members, for your service, for your faithful witness, and for reminding the generations
which follow of the importance and power of remembrance.
Agape,
Mike Gatton
17