APRIL'S THIRD MONDAY- REMEMBER!

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.
They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)

My father, Eugene A. "Gene" Baril, would be 90-years-old if still alive. He was born on December 1, 1922. His truly was the "greatest generation"! What Dad learned at Mechanic Arts High School in Boston as a teenager was a far more comprehensive course of studies than most young people in college tackle today. His generation learned to recite great poetry.Dad was a very "macho" guy, but he recited a lot of poetry and recited it well. I can't tell you how many times I heard him recite Ralph Waldo Emerson's "Concord Hymn". The opening stanza goes like this:

"By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."

Yesterday, April 15, 2013, was a legal holiday in Massachusetts (and in Maine). I can't tell you how many people asked me, "What holiday is it?". I got tired of answering. People from outside New England asked me, and I guess that's somewhat understandable. People who live in Massachusetts asked me. That is something I cannot understand! April's Third Monday is a very, very important day in the history of Massachusetts and in the history of the United States of America. It's "Patriots' Day!" This marks the start of the American Revolutionary War, where fighting broke out on April 19, 1775 at Lexington Green in Lexington, Massachusetts and at the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. This was also the day that Paul Revere and William Dawes made their famous rides shouting, "The British are coming!". (Congressman Mike Capuano made reference to this in a short speech in Congress yesterday, but mistakenly gave the year as 1776. It was 1775.) My father, like all good members of the "greatest generation" knew April's Third Monday is Patriots' Day! After so many people asked me what holiday it was and I gave a history lesson to a few, I decided I was going to write a fun piece on my blog about Patriots' Day and people's ignorance of it. That was before the terrorist attack at the Boston Marathon. Today, I am writing not a fun-filled piece; rather a piece from the deep sorrow in my heart. It makes me sick and disgusted that seemingly "nobody" knows what Patriots' Day is about any more, and it makes me even more sick and more disgusted that the wonderful, family-oriented, joyful and festive Boston Marathon was turned into a day of terror and carnage!

The Boston Marathon is very special to me and my family. We were so thrilled that our first grandchild, Benjamin Robert Julian, was born on Patriots' Day of 2011. On Thursday, April 18, he will enjoy his 2nd birthday. Ben lives in Springfield, Missouri, but he will ever be connected by family heritage to Boston, and that special birthday is something we consider so cool! Prior to Ben's birthday, the Marathon was still a very special event to us. We lived in Framingham for twenty-four years. My daughter Rachel and my son Jon still live in Framingham. For at least half of those years, we attended the race in downtown Framingham. I was always so thrilled to be part of this world class event! My kids would laugh at me as I yelled and cheered on runners. Many will wear labels which indicate their name or home state or country. I would bellow out, "Susie, GO Susie"! or "Italy, ALL RIGHT, Italy!". I'd spend at least a couple of hours doing that. Most years we stayed even to watch a lot of the "stragglers". "You can DO it!" we'd yell, "Keep going!". I loved that Marathon. I considered it one of the highlights of my year. During the past few years I've had a secular job and had to work on Patriots' Day. I didn't like that, but even so, I'd slip over to the course on my morning break and spend at least twenty minutes cheering for the runners. I did that yesterday. Rachel met me at the Routes 126/135 intersection and for twenty minutes we cheered on the runners, ate Dunkin' Donuts pastries, and she shot some happy video of us with her cell phone.

Yesterday was the one-hundred-seventeenth Boston Marathon. Boston is considered the oldest, greatest, and most famous of all Marathon races. It's run by the Boston Athletic Associaton, the B.A.A. I've had friends who run in the Marathon. Yesterday, my friend Michelle McElroy was running to raise money for the Framingham History Center. Her birthday was Saturday. On Facebook, I wished her a Happy Birthday and best regards for her Marathon run. Many run to raise money for charities. The Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber cancer research hospital are two of the most popular. You usually see planes towing signs overhead. The mood is so festive. It's a day that you're just so happy to be alive and so happy to be a native of Greater Boston and there for that special event.

Yesterday, I worked at the answering service until 3 p.m. I then took a short drive to Rachel and Jon's apartment. It was there that we heard the television reports of explosions at the finish line. Ever sense, I've been torn between not being able to get enough of the coverage, and then feeling so sad, so disgusted, and so overwhelmed at what happened that I'd have to turn it off. My poor radio and television sets have been made to go on and off many times as I try to digest all that has happened. I've commented to a number of friends and family that, "this has the feel of 9/11 all over again". It does. I feel so sad for the people who have lost loved ones and who have suffered terrible injuries. The Richard family of Dorchester has lost one child, another child is badly injured, and the Mom is badly injured. Dad was one of the runners. Ironically, my late mother's maiden name was "Richard". When that last name has no final "s" it's French-Canadian (usually from New Brunswick). Many of the Richard families from New Brunswick are related way back. My sister and I can't help but wonder if we might be very distant relatives of that family, and this only makes things sadder. The "pastor" part of me thinks of the families and individuals who will need counseling and practical support and love from the community for many years to come. As with Newtown, we grieve for these families.

Next year, Patriots' Day falls on April 21, 2014. In 2014, Easter is late, and so Patriots' Day falls on the day after Easter. I don't want one person asking me, "What holiday is it?" about Patriots' Day ever again! Listen, this is not just a Massachusetts holiday! This is not just a Maine holiday! This is not just a New England event! I don't care if your hometown is Skagway, Alaska, or Branson, Missouri, or Hubbard, Ohio, or Coral Gables, Florida! Patriots' Day is your holiday, too! I'm not saying the whole country should get Patriots' Day as a day off! I'm saying, April's Third Monday should be in the heart of every American! April's Third Monday should carry as much meaning for every American as does Thanksgiving Day or the Fourth of July! I mean that! It should be a day when we thank God for our country and our freedom! It should be a day when we remember those who have given life and limb for our country and our freedom! And, now, it should be a day when we remember the families who suffered terrible loss at that Marathon finish line!

The Bible passage I quoted at the start of this piece comes from Lamentations chapter 3. This was my devotional Bible reading chapter for today. Each December, I plot out what chapters of the Bible I will read throughout the coming year, and assign each chapter to a day. Today's is Lamentations 3. I had no idea when I picked Lamentations 3 for April 16, 2013 how appropriate it would be. Lamentations 3 is a tough chapter to read. It's full of "gloom and doom". But in the midst of that "gloom and doom" is that wonderful promise of God's compassion and mercy and faithfulness. That's what gives us the courage to go on when life is unfair and horrible! These are very appropriate verses for today!

I will never forget the first Sunday sermon I preached after 9/11. It was on Psalm 27. I told my church that after 9/11 nothing would ever be the same. I was proved totally wrong. After three weeks, everything went back to normal, just as if 9/11 never happened! How sick was that?! I don't want that sort of response to happen again- I don't want us to just go back to business as usual, taking our country for granted, taking God for granted, little sense of purpose, and "What holiday is it?"! No! No! A thousand times, no! April's Third Monday is a very special day! Remember! I encourage you to send the link to this piece to your friends. And, as long as you don't add to the words or subtract from them, I encourage you to print this out, to cut and paste it, and to do whatever you want to do in order to get this message out. Next Patriots' Day should be a very different one than they have ever been before! No American should ever be ignorant of what Patriots' Day is all about! And, as a minister of the Gospel, I want to add that it would be great to have every church full next Easter Sunday, and next Sunday for that matter!