Thank You, Veterans!
/Today, St. John's United Church of Christ says, "Thank you!" to the women and men who have served our nation in the armed forces. Your willingness to sacrifice years of your life for the defense of our country, her citizens, and the ideals which prompted your acceptance of the call to duty, deserves more than just our words as heartfelt as they are.
St. John's United Church of Christ is committed to lending our voice to yours in your effort to receive timely and excellent care for you and your families' needs, especially when you have been wounded, visibly or invisibly, while in service. We believe your voice should be the one listened to most closely as reforms in the way services to veterans are provided and administrated. There is no excuse for delays in medical treatment, untimely processing of tuition reimbursement, inadequate pay and benefits for active duty personnel and military retirees, and veteran homelessness and joblessness. "Saying 'Thank you,' doesn't honor you unless our words are accompanied by our willingness to stand in solidarity with you in your pain and struggle, and to advocate for you when people in power stop listening to you." (Rev. Dr. Bill Lyons, pastor)
Today, we pray for you, our veterans, in the words of the Rev. John Gundlach, Minister for Government Chaplaincies, Parish Life and Leadership, United Church of Christ:
O God, we give you thanks today for our nation’s veterans. We honor them for their faithful service to our country, and for what they have done to defend and preserve our freedom. Generation after generation, young men and women have answered our country’s call, and their lives have been changed forever.
We are grateful to all who have served, whether in peacetime or in conflict. But today we especially remember those who have been tempered by fire, those who continue to bear wounds of the body or the spirit as a result of what they endured. They lie in our veterans’ hospitals or struggle for recovery in rehabilitation centers; they suffer from post-traumatic stress and survivor’ guilt; they yearn for peace in their souls.
Dear God, we ask you to heal their wounds, to banish whatever inner demons may haunt them, and to give them peace within so they may return fully to their families and to society.
We thank you, God, for all of our country’s veterans—those of past generations, and those who continue to earn this title today.
May we never forget what our country has asked of them and what they have given in return. Help us to give them the respect and honor they are due. And strengthen our resolve to build a world modeled on your realm, where war will be pursued no more.
This we ask in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
