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Memorial Day

To honor Memorial Day this past Sunday we introduced our open prayer time with the video Mansions of the Lord. It’s lyrics mourn the loss and brokenness of war, while honoring soldiers with the hope of “divine embrace, eternal light in the mansions of the Lord.” I was surprised to learn this is a recent hymn, composed in 2002 for the movie We Were Soldiers.
More historic is the bugle call Taps, played by the US military at dusk, and at military funerals and commemorations. Perhaps the most famous presentation of Taps was at the 1963 funeral of President John F. Kennedy. This bugle call was arranged in 1862 during the US Civil War by Union Army General Butterfield. Within months it was being used by both Union and Confederate armies. In 1874 Taps was officially recognized by the United States Army.

In fact, there are lyrics to Taps. When sung they are, like the simple 24-note tune, both calming and haunting:

Day is done, gone the sun

From the lake, from the hills, from the sky
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh

Fading light, dims the sight

And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night

Thanks and praise, for our days

Neath the sun, neath the stars, neath the sky
As we go, this we know, God is nigh

Sun has set, shadows come

Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made

While the light fades from sight

And the stars gleaming rays softly send
To Thy hands, we our souls, Lord, commend ~

Blessings,
Dan Nygaard