Our two and a half year old son loves to walk by the edge of
Peachtree Road. So we usually walk the dogs along Peachtree Road and he can see
cars, ambulances, motorcycles, fire trucks, and various other cars. Recently,
he has found a fascination running in between the ribbons that our church
displays as a part of our Prayers for Peace display. It is sacred ground, where
each yellow ribbon carries the name of a soldier who has died in service to the
country in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. The blue ribbons represent the civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan. The green ribbons represent those who pray for peace in their own lives.
At first,
we were trying to discourage this behavior—this running in and out of ribbons.
Then we realized, instead of trying to teach a 2 ½ year old about appropriate
behavior, we would take the time to look at the names on the ribbons that he
was running through and offer a quick prayer for the families involved. Instead of making about our son's behavior, we made it an issue of what can we do to pray for peace.
It’s easy
to identify the problem. It’s tempting to even fix the problem ourselves. It is
much different to express gratitude instead of complain. In that moment, we
decided to choose to be grateful. To me, that is what the celebration of
freedom Sunday at PRUMC is all about—being grateful.
We choose to be grateful for this
country, for those who have given their lives to build it, to keep it free, and
to sustain it in its time of need.
The challenge that each one of us
is faced with is the question of what we will do with this freedom? Will we
stand on the side and complain, criticize, and correct or will we be a part of
something bigger than each one of us?
There will come a day in which we teach our son the
respect due for those names of people he will never know which he runs through,
but for now, we remain ever grateful for the freedom that allows a two year old
to run in a field of yellow, blue, and green ribbons.
