MEMORIAL DAY 20120522



Dear China Friends,

MEMORIAL DAY

Memorial Day is a federal holiday which is observed on the last Monday of May in the United States.  This year it falls on May 28th.  Originally it was called Decoration Day to honor the dead who died in the Civil War (1861-1865).  It was called “Decoration Day” from the custom of decorating the graves of those fallen soldiers.  Memorial Day now honors those who died in any war while serving the United States.  People today also visit the graves of their loved ones with flowers.  I also put colorful flowers on my wife Mary’s grave.  I do miss her.  It is a day when we remember the lives of our loved ones who have passed on. 

Christians find comfort in the belief that there is life beyond the grave.  This is explained in the Good Book:

But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?”.…When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow.  And when you plant it, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later.  What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else.  But God gives it a body that he has planned for it. 

….It is the same with the dead who are raised to life.  The body that is “planted” will ruin and decay.  But that body is raised to a life that cannot be destroyed.  When the body is “planted,” it is without honor.  But it is raised in glory.  When the body is “planted,” it is weak.  But when it is raised, it is a spiritual body.  There is a physical body.  And there is also a spiritual body.

But listen, I tell this secret: We will not all die, but we will all be changed.  It will only take a second.  We will be changed as quickly as an eye blinks.  This will happen when the last trumpet sounds.  The trumpet will sound and those who have died will be raised to live forever. --I Corinthians 15

I have just received word that my son Tom will be moving to American Samoa which is Southwest of Hawaii on the other side of the equator.  This will be quite a change for him and his family from their present home above the Arctic Circle in Alaska.  He will be manager of even a bigger store than the one in Alaska.  My daughter Carolyn lives in New York and travels the nation selling men's clothing.   And my oldest daughter Becky lives in Arkansas and works as a nurse in a hospital.  So you can see my family is really scattered.  However, they do come to see me from time to time.  I trust that is all well with your family and loved ones.

Your Friend,

Tom Atkinson  

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