Memorial Day 180
By Dan Woods
Dan is a senior researcher at Procter & Gamble's Miami Valley Laboratories in Cincinnati Ohio, and currently serving as the Elder chairman for Tylersville Road Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

It never ceases to amaze me the many mysterious, incredible ways God can 'stir the pot' in one's life and how He can deliver very specific, timely and personal messages. I related one example of this to you in a previous story I wrote for EcuMiniNet…'The Rock That Talked' (look it up in the archives!). Here I will share a childhood memory that, to this day, I often reflect back on and marvel at how meaningful this brief episode in my life's journey has affected and shaped the person I am today.

One of God's "mysterious ways" is the existence of 'spiritual advisors' walking the earth. They come in all shapes and sizes. We all are likely to have many spiritual advisors in our lives. I consider a spiritual advisor to be God's personal guide inserted in our life's path when we most need them (whether we know it or not). The spiritual advisor I write about today doesn't even know I would consider him as such. I never told him I felt that way…and I never can now.

I was just a boy. I cannot remember exactly how old I was…somewhere between 7 and 10. It was the late 60's. The Vietnam War was still going on 'over there'. Although I was young and mostly oblivious, I was still aware that something horrible was going on - our country was involved in a war and many people were dying. As I said, I was young, but I was also old enough to know about registering for the draft, and I knew I would have to do this some day. I don't know why this fact weighed heavily on my mind that Sunday morning, but it did - it consumed my thoughts during Sunday School. Somewhere between the end of Sunday School and the beginning of worship, I came to a mighty decision (for such a small boy). I would not fight in any stupid war and get killed. I would go to Canada!

A weight seemed to lift from my tiny being as I settled into my place in the pew. I was at that age when it wasn't cool to sit with your parents, so I was allowed to sit up front with my friends. We'd gotten out of Sunday School a bit on the early side, so I was in a front pew by myself, expecting friends to come along at any time. But, for whatever reason, they never did, and the service started with me alone in that pew, directly down from the minister. Before the service started my thoughts returned to the war and to Canada…wondering where in Canada I'd go and what it would be like.

One of the conditions, of course, of not sitting with my parents was to PAY ATTENTION during church. And, being a good boy, I usually did…usually. I actually did pay attention that Sunday. There were no friends with me to distract me. The minister began talking about the meaning of Memorial Day which was the next day. He talked about the brave sacrifice that so many young men had made to our country since we became the United States of America. He talked with tears in his eyes and hoarseness in his voice at times. He was full of passion; he was full of honor for those that had made the ultimate sacrifice for the freedoms we enjoy today. In short, he made Memorial Day something more than a day off from school. He made me realize what Memorial Day is truly about.

God touched my soul through him. I felt so guilty about my decision to desert my country and run to Canada. I cried at my selfishness…there in the pew and all the way home. After their initial attempts to find out 'what was ailing me' went unanswered, my parents were astute enough to let me wallow in my own misery.

I've never forgotten that day, that sermon, or that man. That man was Donn Ramsdell, the minister of the church my family attended back then…one of God's spiritual advisors for Dan Woods' childhood. We all lost Donn at a tragically early date…I was in college when a heart attack took him away in the recovery room following a successful surgery…he was only in his late 50's. But this lesson and many others I learned from him throughout my young spiritual life are still with me today, and I've never looked at Memorial Day the same way again.

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