Trinity Sunday (Matthew 28:16-20)  6/15/2014

A little more than a week ago, many people throughout the world took a moment to pause and remember the 70th anniversary of a day we call D-Day. This day continues to hold great significance in our common history; significant because we may personally know people who were present on the beaches of Normandy that day, significant because of the sheer scale of the event and its importance in world history. In remembrance of this day, Brian Williams, NBC News Anchor, presented a special broadcast titled, “Journey to Normandy.” His news story highlighted the lives of four men, all near 90 years old, who were returning to the same beaches they encountered 70 years ago, at a time when they were just a few years removed from their high school days. As they traveled back to Normandy they remembered their first trip, an experience that was beyond words in many ways, and they shared their memories of that day and the many days that followed. As I listened to these brave men share their thoughts about their upcoming visit to that far away beach in France, I was quite moved by the men’s stories and the hopes they had set for their visit. One man hoped to finally discover the future of a wounded teenager he had seen those many years ago, another simply wanted to throw a flower into the water where a dear friend was lost forever, and another brought his family along so they would understand his story in a deep and personal way. Their hopes and dreams, after all these years, were rooted in relationships with others: some relationships were only momentary (like the wounded teenager), while others were life-long relationships of family and close friends. The hopes of these veterans reveal an important truth for all of us: the spiritual connections we share with God and with each other are nurtured by our relationships. These brave men’s stories, begun in the crucible of the frightening moments on a distant beach, continued and was transformed to something profound and valuable due to their intimate relationships with family, friends, and God. Each transformation was made manifest in their personal story, the story of the past 70 years since that first day on the Normandy beach. Continue reading →