05/25/2026
ON MEMORIAL DAY
We have come to remember
those who served and died,
and we have come to turn
from sorrow to sunshine.
We have come to remember
those beloved friends and family
who stepped up in hard times for us
whom they might have only imagined.
We have come to remember
that in every fight the goal is
not the fight but the light leading
us on, even when it seems far distant
and the call to action is hard.
We have come to remember
that now it is we who must reach
toward the light and work to protect it
for today and for those we can only imagine.
We have come to remember,
oh, Spirit of Life, all the stirrings
of compassion: move in our hands,
lift us from sorrow, renew our sight.
We must remember, we must remember
the kindly light, amid the encircling gloom,
and we must turn from here today remembering
all that and all who have brought us to this day, and
we must turn our hands and hearts ever toward the light.
– Peggy Johnson
