By the Rev. Joel Vano, Zion Lutheran Church

As a little child it seems that everything about life is new and exciting. Each day presents us with new experiences. It&8217;s no wonder that little children seem to smile a lot about the simplest things.

The flowers of spring beginning to bloom, the sweetly singing birds returning home after a long winter, the caterpillar slowly crawling along a leaf &8212; these all cause a child to stop and stare, stop and listen, stop and giggle with glee. And then that child grows up and the fresh and exciting things of the past may be seen as ordinary and mundane, unless … we remember!

This weekend is about remembering. And yet so often it seems to be simply a weekend to get away from home, to relax and forget about the problems of life. Yes, there will be the official ceremonies and the placing of flowers and flags on gravestones and of course the prayers in church. We will remember for a time that there were those men and women who gave their lives in military service to their country. But will we really remember them?

One of the beautiful riches of my Christian faith continues to be the rich Jewish heritage that permeates down through the ages and shows up in the life and teachings of Jesus. Although I am not Jewish by blood, my Jewish forefathers in the faith (Jesus and his disciples) have helped me to remember life in a way that my Germanic heritage has never quite understood. When the Jewish people of old would hear Yahweh tell them to remember the covenant that he had made with them it was much more than a memory recall.

When future generations of Jewish children would celebrate the Passover feast and &8220;remember&8221; that first Exodus out of slavery in Egypt there was much more than a temporary jolt to their memory banks. Remembering is more about participating in the event, reliving the experience, grasping the reality of what has happened.

So it is no surprise to me that the Apostle Paul (being a good Jewish boy) makes divine commentary on the words of Jesus when he instituted the Lord&8217;s Supper by saying, &8220;This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me &8230; This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me&8221; (1 Corinthians 11:24-25). Paul responds in verse 26 by saying &8220;Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord&8217;s death until he comes.&8221; Paul understood that Jesus&8217; words were not about thinking back to the time when he first broke the bread and poured the wine, but it was a way for the sacrificial death of Jesus to be relived in the lives of his followers every time they would remember his body broken and his blood shed on the cross. In fact, we actually receive the benefit of Jesus&8217; death on the cross &8212; we receive forgiveness through the body and blood of Jesus each time we eat and drink at the sacrament of the altar. And Paul expects that our lives will be different &8212; that we will proclaim the power of God in our lives because our remembering does make a difference.

So this weekend as we remember our loved ones who gave their lives for us on the fields of battle, let&8217;s do more than think about their sacrifice. Let&8217;s apply the understanding of &8220;remembering&8221; that we experience because of our connection to Jesus. Let&8217;s make this Memorial Day a special time where we will do more than fleetingly think about someone from the past. Let&8217;s allow our remembering of these men and women to make a difference in our lives today.

Let&8217;s live our lives knowing that their lives and their deaths have made a difference for us.

Then we will truly be remembering them on this Memorial Day and beyond.