Veterans Day today, was the perfect day for the reflective walk I took through the woods…
It was the ideal Fall day where it sounds like rain, but the ground’s not wet. The sound was created by the magic of hundreds of trees accepting this season in life for what it is… A time to let go. For them, it’s a time to let go of leaves, acorns, even small twigs and branches that are old and tired at the end of a season of hanging on for dear life. And the most gentle of breezes creates a pattering sound as the leaves fall through the branches touching each other briefly as they say goodbye to a life well lived during the previous summer season, when things seemed a bit brighter than today.
It made me reflect on so many of our heroic and loved veterans, living and passed away, which we are forever indebted to.
Dear veteran, whether we acknowledged it or not today, you understand what it means to let go:
- You were willing to let go of your family to go serve.
- You learned how to let go of being in control in order to make it through boot camp.
- Some of you let go of meeting other people’s expectations, who couldn’t understand why you chose to serve.
- Many of you let go of honorable comrades who fell along the way.
- Hopefully you have now chosen to let go of the question “Why them, and not me?”
- Eventually, you chose to let go when your service came to an end; whether at 4 years or 40, or somewhere in between.
Letting go is something we are all called to do during end-of-season cycles… You’ve just had more practice at it than some of us.
And today we honor your leadership, and if we are willing, we can learn from your examples.
Just like the trees that are planted firm, there are some things we can all hang onto through seasons of life when we are called to let go. Here are a few more reflections to carry you through:
- Staying well grounded allows us to sink our roots deeper into the rich and stabilizing soil beneath us.
- Those roots help us stay firmly planted even when the winds blow hard.
- In a forest of heroes ready to protect and serve, we can all stand a bit taller, and feel safer from danger.
- We don’t all grow to the same height; we don’t even all let go in the same ways, but we all have the potential of a fire within.
Veterans, today we thank you for your service… You have taught us there are seasons we are called to go, and often new ways we will need to grow. Yet even when fighting hard winds that blow, there are times like these… to just let some things go.
May you be blessed with sweet rest as you lay down burdens you’ve been carrying for many miles during this Fall season.
Meditate on these passages for further personal reflection:
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Matthew 11:28-30
This picture captures so many elements of this season of Veterans Day in the Fall:
- The beautiful forest filled with rustling leaves in motion.
- The clouds settling in reminding us of our shrouded vision of the future.
- The fences that protect us from external harm.
- And the horsepower to carry others through the fiercest of battles!