Hallow this Meadow

I had the privilege today of blessing the grounds of the Anderson-Dean Park for The Cost of Freedom Tribute that is going to be presented here in Harrodsburg, KY from August 29 to September 2. The Tribute features the Traveling Vietnam Wall, an 80% replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC. Below is the blessing that I wrote for the occasion.

Blessing of the Grounds for the Traveling Vietnam Wall

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who made Heaven and earth (Ps. 124:8).

Let us pray.

Blessed are You, Lord God of hosts,
for through Your prophet Isaiah You have reassured Your people,
“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? 
Even should she forget, I will never forget you. 
See, upon the palms of My hands I have written your name; 
your walls are ever before Me” (Is. 49:15-16).

Bless us, Your people, with the grace of Your remembrance,
for we have a tendency to forget who we are,
whose we are, and to whom we owe what we have.

Bless us this day as we stand before this wall
in awe at the immense price that was paid for our freedoms.
May that awe lead us to be grateful
that these names had been written upon the palms of Your hands (cf. Is. 49:16)
long before we had carved them in stone.
May that awe lead us to be grateful
for the sacrifice of countless other unheralded heroes
whose names You alone remember
and who rest in unvisited tombs.

Bless those warriors with the peace
that this world has never been able to deliver,
the peace that You alone can give (cf. Jn. 14:27).
Forgive their sins and heal their wounded souls.
Comfort their widows and their orphans,
their bereaved brothers and sisters, their heartbroken parents.

Bless also this place where we will gather to remember them,
the grounds on which this wall shall stand.
May Your grace so hallow this meadow
so that this land of the free
might be the birthplace today of the brave.
May the spirit of sacrifice that once inspired our soldiers
teach us to give as much for Your people
with no heed of what we would receive in return.

Bless us too with a longing for Your Kingdom.
May our patriot’s pride for this piece of earth
never make us forget our pilgrim hope
for our eternal home in Heaven.

Blessed are You, Lord God of hosts,
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
as always before, so now and ever more. Amen.