Lest We Forget

Imagine you are a contestant on Jeopardy. The host, Alex Trebek, describes one category as Famous American Battles. He adds, “We’ll give you the name of the battle; you tell us the war or conflict in which it was fought.”

As the game proceeds, the battles come up as: Corregidor, Trenton, Antietam, Manila Bay, Belleau Wood. How many would you get right?

Unless you are an avid student of American history, you may not know that Corregidor was a battle from World War II. Or that Trenton was a battle during the Revolutionary War. Or that the Battle of Antietam was fought during the American Civil War. Or that the American Navy defeated Spanish forces in the Spanish-American War at Manila Bay in the Philippines. Or that the Battle of Belleau Wood occurred in France during World War I.

I mention this, not to glorify war or suggest we need to know every battle from every conflict, but to remind us to remember.

Rudyard Kipling knew how easy it is to forget. In his 1897 poem, “Recessional,” he used the phrase, “Lest we forget,” eight times—twice at the end of each stanza. One stanza says:

Lord of our far-flung battle line,

Beneath whose awful hand we hold

Dominion over palm and pine—

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget—lest we forget!

As poignant as those words, long before Kipling wrote them, Moses cautioned the people of Israel: What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the Lord our God is near us whenever we pray to him? And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today? Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them (Deuteronomy 4:7-9 NIV®).

The King James Version renders those words in verse 9 as “lest thou forget” and “lest they depart.”

When Joshua led the people of Israel on dry land across the flood-swollen Jordan River, he commanded them to take 12 stones from the middle of the river. After they stacked the stones in their camp, Joshua told the people, These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever (Joshua 4:7, NIV®).

In other words, unless we have some way to remind ourselves of certain important events, we may forget. Memorial Day commemorates the men and women who gave their lives in service to their country. Families remember any loved one who has died, often decorating graves as a memorial to them.

It’s also a fitting time to reflect on how God has helped us. For years to come, I suspect people will talk about what it was like to live through the coronavirus pandemic of 2020. We’ll think about the weeks of sheltering at home, isolating ourselves from others, doing our part in preventing the spread of the disease. We may even talk about things that happened “before COVID-19” and “after COVID-19.”

As we do, I hope part of our remembrance focuses on how God helped and strengthened us to come through the crisis as stronger, more resilient people. Be sure to remember, lest we forget.

Ron McClung lives in the Indianapolis area, where Memorial Day weekend normally means the running of the Indianapolis 500. But this year, due to the uncertainties of planning caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 500 is rescheduled for later in the summer.