Today, Nov. 11, is Veterans Day in the United States. It’s the anniversary of the official end to World War I, known as Remembrance Day or Armistice Day elsewhere in the world.
It’s a day to say thank you to our veterans, to remember the harsh realities of war and pray that God’s peace would come. And in the light of on-going conflicts in Syria, Iraq and around the world—come Lord Jesus, come. A day like today is a raw reminder of the power of Advent.
But as a church we’re not called to simply wait or offer mere words.
Let’s Pray
Take a moment today to pray.
Let’s pray for our veterans. Thank them for their service, yes, but pray for them.
Let’s also pray for peace.
You can also encourage others to pray. A quick post to Facebook or Twitter can mean a lot. If you need words to say, the Book of Common Prayer has prayers for those in the armed forces as well as prayers for peace among the nations. You can certainly find lots of other prayers and remembrances online.
Here’s just one example of a church posting on Veterans Day:
Happy #VeteransDay! We send blessings and gratitude to our brothers and sisters serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. pic.twitter.com/RiBNx1BD6M
— Middle Church (@middlechurch) November 11, 2014
Do Something
I wasn’t planning to write a post today. But then I watched a video Mark Horvath shared about homeless veterans, and I couldn’t not write a post. More than a guilt trip, this video points to real solutions:
While praying for our veterans and saying thank you are important steps, the church should also lead the way to action. Mark’s work with InvisiblePeople.tv is a tangible way to help homeless veterans.
There are tons of other organizations helping veterans, but just one is Happy Joe. It’s a nonprofit teaching our troops technical skills—WordPress, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Photoshop—and helping them land jobs or launch businesses. With this kind of support and help when they come home, we can keep veterans from becoming homeless in the first place.
