I spent the heart of this Easter afternoon at the national cemetery on the hills above the mighty Mississippi south of St. Louis (Jefferson Barracks). The day was glorious under “ceilingless sky” and visitors were everywhere across the rolling grounds. Two hundred thousand are laid here at the site of the first permanent U.S. military base west of the river. As I took family members to different parts of the cemetery - family members who are unable to go alone because of physical and emotional limitations - the message in the air of this sacred ground was solemn and undeniable. Freedom is purchased, and preserved, only by willingness to shed one’s blood. Simply, it was sobering that such a reminder would come on Easter Sunday. Life here, and life hereafter, are bought for us with blood.
And simultaneously, out of sight, on the other side of the world, across this Good Friday to Easter Sunday weekend, this very truth was being lived out by the brave ones.
https://www.thefp.com/p/an-american-airman-confronts-fateI thank them and I thank God.
