H-COOP.TXT

            by HOWARD COOP, 32

              111 Dogwood Drive
         Lancaster, Kentucky 40444
FROM MY CHILDHOOD AND
YOUTH, I have vivid memories
of many Memorial Days. Each year
on this special day my family and
many others went to the cemetery
to pay tribute to those gone on
before. I shall always remember
the graves decorated with fresh
flowers, but one thing always
caught my attention. No matter
how early we arrived at the ceme-
tery, members of the American
Legion had already been there and
had placed new American flags on
certain graves.
  Early in life I learned that those
new flags fluttering in the spring
breeze marked the graves of men
who had served their country in
time of need. Most of them were
veterans of World War I. Some
were veterans of the Spanish-
American War. 
  Later I saw new flags placed on
the graves of veterans of World
War II, the Korean conflict and
Vietnam. Today, new flags are
appearing to mark the graves of
those who made the ultimate
sacrifice in the Persian Gulf
"Desert Storm" campaign. All in
those silent cities gave "the full
measure of devotion" to their
country for freedom's sake. On
Memorial Day, we pay tribute to
them and hallow their memory.
  On one occasion while standing
on the Mount of Olives and look-
ing over the vast cemetery that
covers its western slope, Jesus
said, "The very stones would cry
out...." As we hallow the memory 
of comrades who were our friends,
our neighbors, and our fellow
citizens, we need to listen as the
stones that mark their resting
places speak to us.
  Their stones cry out to tell us of
the full measure of devotion they
gave. They were patriots who
loved their country. They neither
hesitated nor shrank from duty.
When the summons came, they
answered the call. They made
personal sacrifices, and they re-
sponded with their lives as true
patriots always do.
  Their stones cry out for a new
birth of patriotism.
  We have lived through a period
in our nation's history when patri-
otism was unpopular. For some, it
was almost a dirty word. There
was unrest within our country,
and there was reaction against it
from without. Some refused to
salute our flag and pledge alle-
giance to it. Others took refuge in
a foreign land rather than face up
to responsibility. Some politicians
criticized our country unjustly,
and some worked to dismantle our
defenses. Veterans of Vietnam re-
turned home without a welcome.
  Freedom's holy light flickered,
but it did not go out. Today a new
birth of patriotism has come to
the land. Once more our flag
moves people, and it is honored.
Some say the new wave of patrio-
tism is a pseudo-patriotism. They
accuse it of being long on rights
and short on responsibilities. 
  I don't know about that, but I
do know this: If we are to remain
"the land of the free and the home
of the brave," we must become a
nation of patriots who not only
cherish our rights but also willing-
ly assume our responsibilities.
  Their stones cry out to remind
us that freedom is costly.
  When we use phrases such as
"the full measure of devotion" and"the supreme sacrifice," we ought to remind our-
selves of that cost. Men fought and died that we
might have freedom.
  Beyond the price they paid for freedom, there is
the price we must pay. If freedom means anything to
us, we must, to use the words of John Wesley, "bind
ourselves with willing bonds" to the true ideals of
freedom and to all of those who espouse those
ideals. We must realize that freedom is not the
absence of restraints and controls; in the words of
Hartely Coleridge, it is "rightly understood, a univer-
sal license to be good."
  After walking among the white crosses in Flanders
Field, John McCrae wrote:

                Take up our quarrel with the foe:
                To you from failing hands we throw
                The torch; be yours to hold it high.
                If ye break faith with us who die
                We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
                In Flanders fields.

                The stones of comrades cry out to us to take up
the cause for which they gave themselves and to use
the strength we possess to lift high the torch of
freedom so that its holy light may spread to all peo-
ples of the earth!     `

Howard Coop, 32, a retired United Method- ist minister, has been a
Mason since 1952. He is a member of Lancaster Lodge No. 104 in Lan-
caster, Kentucky, where he is currently serving as Senior
Warden. Twice he has served as Chaplain. He is a member of the
Scottish Rite Bodies in Louisville.



        The Letter "E"

   Someone has advanced the opinion that the letter "E" is the most
unfortunate character in the English alphabet because it is always
out of cash, forever in debt, never out of danger, in hell all of
the time, and has never been in Indiana or Ohio.

But we call attention to the fact that "E" is never in war and is
always in peace. It is the beginning of existence and the end of
trouble.

   Without it there would be no meat, no life, no heaven. Without
it there would be no editors and no news. Most of all, it is the
center of honesty and makes love perfect.

        The Masonic Quarterly Winter, 1990                                              If we are to remain

        If we are to remain
        "the land of the free
        and the home of the brave,"
        we must become a nation of patriots
        who not only cherish our rights
        but also willingly
        assume our responsibilities
