Like a great many of you out there, I have not had to experience the hardships of war firsthand. It remains something to see from a distance, on the television or in movies. Terrifying and deadly but always from afar. With this comfortably safe and remote view, it becomes an easy thing to simply shrug it off after a while and turn back to our own personal endeavors, thinking that the specter of war won’t affect us and can Remain a distant afterthought.

But it doesn’t take much to realize how close war has been to each of us and our families for generations. While working on my family’s genealogy, I found war after war through the ages where relatives served, some dying and some being wounded. Young and sometimes not so young men who rallied to the call and Paid some sort of price for their efforts. My genealogy is unremarkable in that aspect as the same can be said for most families.

There is a lot to hate about war. The horror of it, the death, devastation and destruction of war should be enough. But when you consider the potential and futures of those lost in wars, not to mention the financial costs that sap the economies of the world depriving the people of resources better spent on making their lives better, it becomes a despicable thing.

But while war is, and should remain, a thing to be despised, we owe a huge sense of gratitude for those who have served and paid the ultimate price to preserve the things and ideals we take for granted nearly every day, all the time thinking that these things will remain in place without any need for protection.

So today, remember the price paid, the lives cut short. Hate war, yes. But give these soldiers who have shed their blood our gratitude and respect, as well as our empathy for the other lives and futures they were never able to realize.

This post ran here for Memorial Day back in 2011. Fr this year’s remembrance, here’s a song from Richard Boulger called For Souls Past. Seems to fit.