God accepts us as His own beloved children for Christ's sake. We may not understand why it had to be this way. But we look at the cross and we see there an open door.

And thus we remember. We remember those who died that we may live in freedom. We remember those who died that we may live in faith. We remember Christ who died that we may live forever. That's the ultimate meaning of this Memorial Day weekend. It is a time to remember and it is a time to finish what they started.

They were shooting the movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy" on the day after Pearl Harbor. The cast listened as President Roosevelt announced on the radio that the United States was at war with Japan and Germany. At that point director Michael Curtiz came on the sound stage with Jimmy Cagney. They all listened in silence for the national anthem to finish. As the women dabbed tears from their eyes, and the men were deeply moved, Curtiz said in his best Hungarian accent:

"Now, boys and girls, we have work to do. We have bad news, but we have a wonderful story to tell the world. So let's put away sad things and begin."