Express Gratitude To Our Veterans

I don’t think we as a nation can celebrate our independence and our freedom without taking a pause to express our gratitude for our veterans.

As I ponder and consider the sacrifice you made for our country, I am always filled with awe. The oft said phrase, “Thank you for your service seems insufficient.”

As I ponder and consider not just the what, but the why, I cannot help but consider that the only force that exists in the world that has enough strength and power to enable someone to willingly walk into harm’s way is Love.

So, I would like to change that trite expression to say, “Thank you for loving us enough to lay down your life, to put your goals, your needs, and your desires, second to the call to service for your country.”

You responded and you served, whether or not our country was in the right or wrong. You followed orders you may well have not believed in. You formed a dynamic bond of brotherhood with strangers and sacrificed for them. Your life, for your time in the armed service, was a living demonstration of Love.

Now, as you have returned home to what should be a grateful nation, we the people for whom you walked through hell have failed you. For that I and I know many Americans are sorry.

Sadly, the honor and integrity that you demonstrated has not been returned by the body politic. You demonstrated your love for your country and we the people demonstrated selfishness failing to provide for you the help and support you needed to heal from the horrors we put you through.

It is not that we don’t know that “War is Hell.” After all that is a quote from General Sherman way back in the Civil War. It is that those who stayed at home don’t really understand what slogging through Hell does to the human spirt, to the heart, the mind, the emotions and the Soul.

So, they wrap their responses in platitude and patriotism without ever knowing or considering how little gratitude those hollow phrases show.

As this year the 4th of July comes around, and before those who have never walked in your boots speak their practiced phrases, I would like to offer this heartfelt thank you, to you, our veterans.

Thank you, although words fall short of honoring you for all that you did for me, for us, for the people of this great and yet sadly often flawed county.

You demonstrated Love, though you may have not been treated with Love by the very people you served.

You created brotherhood while walking through a ring of Hell that you neither created or were responsible for.

We, as a people have failed to demonstrate to you the Love and brotherhood which you so richly deserve. Perhaps it is that they do not understand. Perhaps it is because they are selfish and small minded. Perhaps it is because they grew up on emotionally manipulated media of what war is like. Perhaps it is their greed and self-involved short-slightness.

I ask that you once again take on the mantel of honor and service and forgive them for their callous and heartless ways.

4th of July Soldier’s Prayer

From my heart today I offer up this prayer.

Lord of All,

Today with gratitude I place before you this soldier, this veteran, and ask that You:

Heal him/her for the deep wounds that our country sending them into the Hell of war created for them, whether they be physical wounds, emotional wounds, or wounds in the mind, heart or Spirit.

Flood them with Grace and guide them to the direction that empowers them to fulfill their Soul’s purpose, so that their time of service is not a disruption to the fulfillment of their life’s purpose.

Restore and refresh their lives with wisdom and insight that they may see the possibilities and blessings as the opportunity for success that they are.

Comfort the warriors from the ravages of battle and give them rest and respite from their memories of the horrors of war.

Enfold them in your Divine Love and send your Angels to watch over them as they continue through the challenges of civilian life today, tomorrow, and always.

Amen

As a thank you and to facilitate healing for all the wounded warriors I am offering a collection of three guided meditations at no cost to veterans or any enlisted arm forces over the 4th of July extended weekend. Please share it freely with any you think will benefit from using them.

Learn more here >>>Veteran Bundle Special.

The blessing of Love on all that you do!

– Genevieve Gerard