- WRITTEN ON MEMORIAL DAY - by Big Daddy
Today, we celebrate the honor and the courage of our soldiers who have died defending our country and its liberties. Recently, an article ran across Yahoo that Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is empty. The bones now identified have been interred elsewhere!
The Tomb remains as a testament to the value we claim in the defense of our great country and its freedom! Many would claim such freedom is no longer worth fighting for, as our states’ governments restrict, violate and encumber our unalienable rights. Is that the reason the tomb is now empty? Is it a sign of the worthlessness of defending a country no longer free? Or, does an empty tomb represent a far different scenario?
One need not venture too remotely into history to be reminded of another empty tomb. This tomb, as most will recall, historically captured within the New Testament of the Bible, once contained the person of Jesus Christ. Today it too, remains empty.
Re-visiting the story leading up to Christ’s arrest, his incarceration, his mock trial and his subsequent execution need not be told as we all know it all too well. The movie Passion portrayed the injustice of this event, which ultimately resulted in his death.
Today, perhaps ironically, the tomb remains empty. Does this portray a symbolic objection to Christ’s message? Or, does it indicate otherwise? The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier remains empty because he was identified, in his mortal state, for whom he was when he was alive, fighting for the freedoms of this country. The Tomb of Christ remains empty today as a proof of the testament of the Father- God, who promised Christ life beyond the grave, in the power of His resurrection to a new life! The empty tomb was the proof of Christ’s resurrection to life by God!
The paradox of the story does not lie within the question- whether the tomb was truly empty or not? Rather, the seeming contradiction is in the necessity of Christ’s death to catapult him to new life! The paradox is life is only achieved through first dying to my self, trusting God for life! Christ led the way as the firstborn from the dead. The Unknown Soldier and countless others led the way in dying for the freedom of this country!
Today, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier remains empty, not as a testament of the worthlessness of the fight for our country’s freedom, but rather as the evidence, as the Gospels of Christ indicate, that life is achieved through dying to my self while trusting God for life immortal!
Big Daddy
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