Memorial Day has evolved into a long holiday weekend in which people look forward to an extra day off work, swimming, sales at all the stores, cookouts, and gatherings with family and friends. The real reason for Memorial Day has shifted over time and, in some cases, has sadly been forgotten.

It began as a day of remembrance for all the lives lost in the Civil War. Major General John A. Logan of the Union Army issued General Order Number 11, also known as the “Memorial Day Act,” which declared that the last day of May would be a day to decorate the graves of all the fallen soldiers in the Civil War with flowers. In short, the flowers were intended to be a kind of testimony to both present and future generations that the American people would not forget the profound “cost of a free and undivided republic,” according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Over time, that remembrance was extended to include all military personnel who lost their lives in the course of defending and protecting America. The freedoms that we enjoy as they are laid out by the Constitution are some of the reasons why Memorial Day matters to Christians today.

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