Ecclesiastes 3:1-8New Living Translation (NLT)
A Time for Everything
3 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.
Memorial Day 2016 by larrypaulbrown
Lord, we remember today the killing times,
the loss of life, of innocence.
Our young men of valor and courage,
sacrificed for America’s corrupt,
the wealthy and influential.
We stand yet today on the frontlines watching
the suffering, the pain and weeping.
Our sons barely men, so innocent,
dying for their honor and duty,
while greed watches in complacency.
Lord, we witnessed in 1968,
Chicago, in chaos, as dissenters battled.
Fighting the same war on the streets,
wanting to end that evil in a far off land,
they were draft dodgers, card burners, patriots.
You see, Lord, they also loved America,
wanting only to preserve freedom.
Two battlefields, American brothers,
set asunder by corrupt powers,
wealth and influence intent on plunder.
We must ask who won that war in the jungles,
who has won in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Certainly, some became rich and powerful,
enjoying the booty from their ventures,
it’s that way with all wars.
Those of us who died, have we won?
Those of us who fought in Chicago, have we won?
Because, even though our battlefields were different,
we were brothers fighting for an America we loved,
one not corrupted by greed, power, and cowardice.
Every generation has its war and its spoils,
wealth hidden in corporate boardrooms.
And every generation has its heroes,
the fallen ones and the ones spared,
to give us hope and teach us peace.
There is a time for everything;
to love and hate,
to go to war and make peace,
to cry and laugh,
to speak and be quiet.
But, Lord, what we need more than ever,
now, is a time of healing.
We shall never forget the sacrifices, not ever;
but, O God, bless us today with healing for
the nation, the people, the weary warriors.
lpb quest - the twilight dance 