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Today is a very special day. It is a day of remembrance and celebration.
It is a day we recall the lives of those who have entered the chapter eternal—our Gold Star Brothers who courageously gave their lives in defense of our country and the common values for which we stand.
It is a day we remember our Brothers who exceled at life, those who led lives of accomplishment in their professions, in the arts, in sports or in service to mankind.
It is a day we remember those who left us too soon because of disease or accident or other tragedy.
It is a day we remember the lives of our Brothers who lived quiet, simple lives —men who courageously got up every day and went to work in order to provide for their families and, in the process, provide opportunity for another generation.
And it is a day we remember those whose lives did not turn out the way they or we would have liked, but who are our Brothers nonetheless and whom we honor for their intrinsic value as children of God.
It is all these lives we remember and we celebrate today.
As I prepared for this service, I recalled the wonderful passage from the third chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes in the Hebrew Bible.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
Many of us in my generation first became familiar with these words when, in 1965, the Byrds released a Pete Seeger version of the passage to which he had added the simple refrain “Turn, Turn Turn” and it became one of the most memorable songs of the decade. To everything-- turn, turn, turn--there is a season--turn, turn, turn-- and to everything a purpose under heaven….
As I pondered what I might say this morning, it occurred to me that this passage contains a central truth about life:
Life is experienced in seasons.
By the grace of God, most of you in this room are in the midst of a season of excitement, of experimentation and exploration. A time where your whole adult life is before you seemingly filled with endless possibility.
Even those of us who are more “seasoned” are living in a time of abundance, as evidenced by the fact that we are in this room today.
But we all know, both instinctively and because of the lives we’ve lived, that there will be other, not so pleasant, seasons as well.
The key is to remember that they are only seasons. They each have a beginning and an end in the continuous cycle of life and, no matter what happens, there will always be opportunities to begin anew just around the corner. It is this redemptive nature of life that gives us cause for hope.
And as I thought about this idea, it occurred to me that Pete Seeger had improved upon the wisdom of this passage in a very important way with that simple phrase, “turn, turn, turn.”
Life is a dance! A series of turns and spins and dips and embraces to the rhythms and rhymes of all creation. And the key to a meaningful life is to just keep dancing! To never stop dancing.
In the Christian tradition, there is a theological idea called perichoresis. It refers to the relationship between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It comes from a Greek word that quite literally translates to “the dance.” I love the idea that the three persons of the Trinity are dancing with each other.
But the beautiful part is that they are not dancing only with each other. Rather, they invite us and every creature in the universe to join with them in the wonderful dance of life and love.
Our challenge as Brothers is to help each other hear the music. The music of God’s love for us and for all of creation. And then to make that love the foundation upon which we build our lives together.
And, if we do this, when our time comes to enter that great mystery brought on by death we will look back on lives well lived and we will be remembered as men who truly reflected God’s love for all of creation and who embraced the values of our founders—the values of phi, phi kappa alpha.
Amen.
Given at the July 25-29 150th Anniversary Convention of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity memorial service honoring those who died since the previous convention, with particular emphasis on Gold Star brothers who lost their lives in combat.
