Remembrance
“I’ll choose your love over fear.” I listened to the words on repeat at least fifteen times. In between emails, and phone calls, and visitors darkening my doorway with questions, I took these words in and tried to think about what they mean. They’re from the song Mercy by Doe. This song may not move everyone, but it spoke to me.
I didn’t find any one answer - it could be different for so many - but it did spur my thinking towards the act of choosing and the power in it. The challenge in it. I thought, what if we could choose? What if it was just that easy? Sometimes it is, but on so many other occasions choosing is difficult. It comes with weight, responsibility, sacrifice. Oftentimes choosing one thing forces us to let go of something else, and oh how simple life would be if letting go were easy. If it wasn’t painful and saturated in uncertainty.
Today is a day of remembrance for those who made the difficult choice of defending freedom for all. My father made that choice and my family served alongside him, quietly supporting his work, his duty. He missed births and birthdays, anniversaries and holidays, laughter and so many tears. There were times when my mother wasn’t sure if he would return…but he always did. For that I am deeply thankful. Today is a day of remembrance for those who did not return. For those who didn’t have a chance to make up for the missed moments and for the families who missed them, who miss them.
The women and men whose service ended with the ultimate sacrifice chose the love of humanity and country over fear. Perhaps we can honor them by doing the same, even in the smallest way. We can choose kindness over hate. We can choose to help instead of turning away. We can choose a warm smile or kind gesture. We can choose to share hope and encouragement. And because hurt people tend to hurt people, we can choose to let go of pain, a little at a time, and allow ourselves to heal. How much better would our world be?
“I’ll choose your love over fear.” At first I thought the context of Doe’s words only served a spiritual reference and nothing more. But the truth is, love is…well, it’s love. No matter the context it’s the same. It’s consistent and strong. It’s powerful. It’s a choice I hope we all make - eventually - if for nothing else than to honor the countless others who did so before us. How much better would our world be?
