Memorial Day

Watching: CNN
Reading: A Farewell to Arms
Feeling: Scared of my personal future
Wearing: PJs

It's funny how one can be so against war and so supportive of the troops. But it's possible, because that's how I feel. I know so many people in the armed forces and I know that by and large they are decent people, wary of battle and eager to change the world for the better.
But I always remember that though there have been just wars throughout history, still, "every war is a defeat for mankind" as Pope John Paul II said. Memorial Day, for me, is a time to remember the just and unjust wars, and the soldiers who have fallen in each--members of my family and circle of friends, as well as strangers.
It's also a time to pray for the very many universal victims of war--the children, women, innocent civilians who have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. In a special way we can't forget, too, the families of the soldiers who have died--and the families of those innocent victims.