24 Notes
Who cannot say they are not taken to a solemn place when they hear Taps?
A Moment of Your Time
As we celebrate the first long weekend of summer with BBQs, picnics, trips out of town, we should hold ourselves still for one moment to remember those who have passed on, on the battlefield and in peace, to remember them in our hearts. Friends and strangers, all those that have left this earth with their mark - that all too quickly fades in the sun. But if we stop to let our hearts shine with their memory, their acts of bravery and sacrifice will live on .
To Those Who Serve
As we watch them leave home, to fly on a plane, or sail on a ship, we watch them as disappear into the horizon, our tether to them is but a spider web thin connection that is held by still moments and words, the tenuous grip loosened by daily chores that take us away from their existence. I don't hold to the cliche "Out of sight, out of mind.", as long as they are in my heart, they are in my mind's eye.
When the trumpet sounds Taps, it is to bury a fallen soldier or sailor and at memorials to the dead. Our sense of passing on is tied to a simple set of 24 notes, a musical touchstone that only has one purpose, to remind us of the dead and the living that tends to their journey to the next world. A national moment of remembrance takes place at 3 p.m. local time on Monday May 31st, take that moment to stop and remember those who have fallen.
Taps was first sounded that night in July 1862 during the Civil War. Lyrics were put to the notes and the first were, "Go To Sleep, Go to Sleep."
Day is done, gone the sun,
From the hills, from the lake,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
Go to sleep, peaceful sleep,
May the soldier or sailor,
God keep.
On the land or the deep,
Safe in sleep.
Love, good night, Must thou go,
When the day, And the night
Need thee so?
All is well. Speedeth all
To their rest.
Fades the light; And afar
Goeth day, And the stars
Shineth bright,
Fare thee well; Day has gone,
Night is on.
Thanks and praise, For our days,
'Neath the sun, Neath the stars,
'Neath the sky,
As we go, This we know,
God is nigh.
Image: Ophelia Chong / Searching
