A Visit with the Joneses

Carol Jones Saint: Hello, hello there. Come right into visit at Home Sweet Home, and this is going to be a very special time of memory at this Memorial Day season. We would like to dedicate the entire visit in memory of all the brave men and women who gave their lives in various wars, many different wars, so that we could enjoy the freedom that we do in our country.

And you know, this also becomes a very special time when we remember our loved ones who have gone on to be with the Lord, and we certainly are thinking of them at this time. If you have a tape recorder near, you may want to start it because a little bit later in the visit, Bert will be playing some war songs that you probably haven't heard for a long time. We hope you enjoy the visit.

Guest (Male): The bugle echoes shrill and sweet, but not of war it sings today. The road is rhythmic with the feet of men at arms who come to pray. The roses blossom white and red on tombs where weary soldiers lie. Flags wave above the honored dead, and martial music cleaves the sky. Above their wreath-strewn graves we kneel. They kept the faith and fought the fight through flying lead and crimson steel. They plunged for freedom and the right.

Everyone has seen the Memorial Day poppy. It is called the flower of remembrance, and it was first immortalized in the poem entitled "We Shall Not Sleep." It was written by Colonel John McCrae, who was a World War I Canadian surgeon. He served in Flanders, France, and his poem first appeared in the November 1918 Ladies' Home Journal.

This inspired a crusade led by many people that then made the flower a national reminder of the sacrifice made by veterans in all wars. The blood-red, four-petaled flower native to the battlefields of Flanders, France was officially proclaimed the flower of remembrance at the 1920 National American Legion Convention. And as I have said, it is still continuing as a symbol of all veterans who have given their lives for our country.

Certainly, that will make the meaning of the poem much clearer for all of us as I read the poem "In Flanders Fields." We shall not sleep. In Flanders fields the poppies blow between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place. And in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe. To you from failing hands we throw the torch. Be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die we shall not sleep, though Flanders fields the poppies grow.

What a responsibility we all have to carry the torch and keep it high. "To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high." What a tremendous quotation and phrase. Just recently, I found another poem that was written following Colonel McCrae's well-known poem in Flanders Fields.

And this poem, called "In Flanders Now," was used at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Arlington, Washington, D.C. It sort of answers those dead who spoke in the poem "In Flanders Fields," and this is saying in Flanders now, this is what has happened.

We have kept the faith, ye Flanders dead. Sleep well beneath those poppies red that mark your place. The torch your dying hands did throw, we've held it high before the foe and answered bitter blow for blow in Flanders fields. And where your hero's blood was spilled, and guns are now forever stilled and silent grown, there is no moaning of the slain.

There is no cry of tortured pain, and blood will never flow again in Flanders fields. Forever holy is our sight shall be those crosses gleaming white that guard your sleep. Rest you in peace, the task is done. The fight you left us we have won, and peace on earth has just begun in Flanders now.

We're just pausing to let you know that you are visiting at Home Sweet Home, and we're thinking about those who have served us so faithfully in various wars. We're thinking about our loved ones who have gone on, a very special time of memory. We hope it will bring back a lot of memories to you too as you remember your loved ones also.

The words of that poem keep ringing over and over in my mind. "To you from failing hands we throw the torch, be yours to hold it high." Spiritually, what a message. Not only in relation to our national politics and our national freedom, but spiritually, we have received so much from those who have gone ahead.

We're so thankful for our dear parents who gave their lives in service to the Lord, and they passed along the torch. "Be yours to hold it high." We've done our best to hold it high on the ministry of a visit with the Joneses. I think for many of us, the songs of World War I bring back memories of Memorial Day almost more than anything else.

Listen now as I sit down at the console of the First Presbyterian Church of New Castle and play their beautiful four-manual organ, some 5,000 pipes playing for you. It's a song that you will recognize and you will know well. "Keep the Home Fires Burning," words written by one who left the beautiful town of Pleasantville, Pennsylvania and went to work for the Red Cross overseas.

I'll dedicate those songs to all the friends who attended my concert at the First Presbyterian Church of New Castle, Pennsylvania and heard me playing that beautiful pipe organ. This season of Memorial Day, we remember those who gave their lives that we might be free.

It should also be a day of remembrance when we will remember the one, Jesus Christ, who gave His life that we might have life. We read in Romans chapter five, "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." As a memory of the sacrifice of others should cause us to dedicate our lives to preserving the freedom they bought with their blood, so a memory of the sacrifice of the Savior should cause us to say, "Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

Within my heart I hold a precious memory, the dearest memory I know. The memory of one who died on Calvary, whose heart was broken by my sin and woe. Memory, memory, blessed memory that leads me back to Calvary where I was lost, the Savior found me, threw His loving arms around me. 'Tis a memory that never fades.

And let that memory of Jesus Christ and His death on Calvary remind you and me to give our lives for Him. It's been a joy for us, the Jones family, Ruth and Carol along with our special guest, William Penn and his wife, Nila Penn, to present this special program today. We hope it has been a blessing to you, every one of you. So until next time, all of us say goodbye and keep holding the torch high. Goodbye everyone.