Memorial Day 2024
A Day of Remembrance, Reflection, & Resolution
Memorial Day was borne out of the desire to honor those lives lost in America’s 2nd Civil War, whose effects and resultant repercussions are still affecting current generations of Americans.
Originally known as Decoration Day, it was annually observed on May 30th. It consolidated various communities’ desires to remember and honor their local and regional human contributions and sacrifices that profoundly marked the 3-generations whose lives were inexorably marked and altered by this bloody conflict.
Since then, the United States has been embroiled in several life-consuming, regional conflicts around the world. The desire to honor all of those fallen soldiers caused the holiday to evolve into Memorial Day. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which established Memorial Day as the last Monday in May in order to create a three-day weekend for federal employees.
Memorial Day… A Day of Remembering
As an aging combat veteran, Memorial Day conjures bittersweet feelings and emotions for me.
A part of me understands and is humbled by the unifying call and need for service and duty to ideals…
and a part of me is saddened that such a call for service and duty to ideals necessitates open and armed conflict.
For what is the purpose and benefit of such an overt, forceful act…
but a violent imposition of a distinct point-of-view…
the net result of which is not a profound and sincere shift in beliefs and values…
but rather a temporary and resentful imposed point-of-view…
that overtly garners submission and feigned obedience…
all-the-while covertly fostering contempt and breeding resentment…
nullifying and contradicting the very nature and effort intended.
The Gift of Hindsight
Being blessed with intervening time, we current generations have the ability to once again view and contemplate the energetic forces that have accumulated and festered since our Revolutionary generations’ decisions.
The Founders were faced with many looming and pressing issues… with one of them being of profound importance… namely, the foundational and unresolved grievances between the northern and southern colonies concerning slavery. Initially (in 1606), King James created two colonies… each for distinct purposes… the northern colony as a religious settlement. and the southern colony as a commercial enterprise.
Their distinct formation inexorably ingrained diametrically opposing viewpoints regarding slavery. This singular issue defined and shaped both groups’ outlooks and way of life… and reappeared several times… and was NEVER resolved.
Even the inspirational environment of the Constitutional Convention couldn’t overcome the deeply-held, fear-driven convictions of these two opposing regional factions… so their best efforts only served to limit the importation of “such persons” for 20 years, as noted in the Constitution under Article 1, Section 9.
Since this bedrock issue was only tabled, and not summarily dealt with… it was inevitable that future generations would have to deal with it. Reflecting back on the generational energetic patterning… continuing conflict was inevitable.
A Generational Perspective
The Generations Series of Books clearly indicates predictable and repetitive patterns of generational history… with the 4th Turning as typically being a CRISIS period. The tumultuous times preceding our 2nd Civil War profoundly affected the social patterning of those generations… enough to cause the normal 3rd Turning of UNRAVELLING – Hero to sublimate into the CRISIS identity.
This is the only period in America’s generational history that had 3-Generation Turnings to complete that particular saeculum. (Please reference Generational Perspectives for a better understanding.)
The 3-generations present during this tumultuous period were;
- the TRANSCENDENTAL GENERATION (Prophet – HIGH, then age 40-69)…
- the GILDED GENERATION (Nomad – AWAKENING, age 19 to 39)… and
- the PROGRESSIVE GENERATION (Artist – CRISIS, age 2 to18)
… with
- the TRANSCENDENTAL GENERATION providing a bulk of the leadership…
- the GILDED GENERATION doing the bulk of the fighting… and
- the PROGRESSIVE GENERATION observing and supporting their elders.
Needless to say, all 3-generations were profoundly marked by their experiences… so much so, that it altered these 3-generations’ and subsequent Generational patterning. Sadly, as hindsight clearly shows… that deep division and conflict did nothing to heal the deep divide, it only caused it to become covert.
Generational Patterning
IMHO, this conflict created a superficial structure of new rules that sought to enforce and legislate morality… an absurd notion, whenever and however it is attempted. The net result was the predictable behavior exhibited by subsequent generations of both regional factions. Reference the behavior exhibited by ordinary American citizens after the Civil War… demonstrating their open hostility and segregation… clearly displaying their contempt regarding any legislative mandates.
Sadly, the spirit of both of our founding documents never permeated either group’s experiential veneer.
The result? We have a Nation still struggling with conflicting, fear-driven feelings… with the resulting current landscape being one of simmering intolerance and anger… with no healing anywhere.
Our Ultimate Challenge
Today’s 4-generations have a formidable challenge facing them. Formidable in that they have to rise above their deep-seated experiential patterning… along with the many distractions that currently occupy and overwhelm their every waking hour. They must collectively summon and follow their internal spiritual guidance. Then, they must merge these energies into a cohesive and powerful faith-based campaign that stems and reverses the current fear-based and destructive campaigns being waged by self-serving Authoritative Abusers, whose only purpose is self-aggrandizement and control.
Our Collective Mandate
While Memorial Day is about recognizing our Military’s current role and past sacrifices… it should also be about every American citizen’s responsibility and duty to personally acknowledge their role in upholding and supporting the values and traditions we hold sacred.
Our Founding Documents describe the most unique form of human & social collaboration ever devised on earth…
one in which the citizens are the ultimate OWNERS & decision-makers…
where they define, accept, and become responsible for the promulgation of these ideals…
becoming the shining example and beacon of our spiritually held values to the rest of the world.
We Owners of Our United States are currently distracted by the collective, deep-seated fear that has been passed down by previous generations. That generational fear… coupled with current political party manipulations… has caused that fear to devolve down into a vitriolic rage… a blind madness that seeks to destroy anything and everything in its path. (See President’s Day-2024 article)
I implore you…
on this ominous Memorial Day…
to ponder your personal blessings and our collective blessings…
all rooted in the commonality of our Founding Documents…
that rely on continually active and vibrant faith-based moral decision-making…
to reject the calls for narcistic retribution and overtforceful conflict.
Hopefully, our current 4-Generations can unify and clearly see that attempts of forceful submission are counterproductive… destructive… and become one more thing we have to come back from, in order to repair and resurrect our Constitutional Republic.
The answer lies in our ability to finally…
and ultimately…
find and rely on our collective, inner spiritual light and energy…
to guide US toward the path that our Founding Documents highlighted over 200 years ago…
that have STILL NOT BEEN FULLY ACTUALIZED OR FULFILLED.
Honor, Duty, Country… Arlington Cemetery -Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
