Devotional for Today

Vietnam Vet Memorial

Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. John 15:13, KJV.

Maybe you’ve seen it. The long V-shaped black-granite wall adjacent to the National mall. It was dedicated on this date in 1982, toward the end of a weeklong national salute to Americans who served in the Vietnam War. Thousands of Vietnam veterans marched to its site for its dedication. The wall is inscribed with the names of the 57,939 Americans who died in the conflict, listed in order of death, not of rank, as is common in other memorials.
It was designed by an architecture student, Maya Lin. She is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and won a nationwide competition to create a design for the monument. At first, people didn’t like it. It was too different. Where were the men in uniform? Where were the weapons. But the Memorial soon became one of the most visited in the U.S. capital. Visitors often make an etching of the name or leave a private offering—notes, flowers, dog tags, medals, photos, and even a pair of combat boots. No one ever imagined that so many personal items would be left there, and now more than 100,000 are now stored in a museum resource center.
The list of names on the memorial seems to go on forever, names of the men and women who served in all branches of the military and who died in service. One is almost overwhelmed by the enormity of the sacrifice of these nearly 58,000 husbands and wives, and sons and daughters. The Vietnam war grew very unpopular in the U.S. but somehow the Wall brought together both those who fought there and those who marched against the war.
Jesus was not always popular when He was on earth. Not everyone appreciated the things He said nor everything He did. Sometimes His own family was confused and distressed by His actions. He died pretty much alone, leaving even His disciples sick with sorrow and defeat. But Jesus did what He had to do in the war between good and evil, and now Christians around the whole world recognize Christ’s death as the most selfless act of all time.

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From the Devotional: Time Warp

Break out your hiking shoes—you’ll be trekking through time and space to rendezvous with some famous (and not-so-famous) people on significant dates in history. You’ll watch events unfold that impact your life today, even though they took place dozens or even hundreds of years ago. And (you guessed it!) there’s even a spiritual application tucked away in every experience.

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