Jackson Jambalaya

Our annual pilgrimage to Saulsbury for Memorial Day stirred up familiar memories of people and places, of family and friends who are still here or long departed. We’re thankful for all who served. Juxtapositioned between family stories and current events we caught up with cousins about the past year and coming months.

The afternoon before the next day’s community gathering, we placed American flags on all the veterans’ graves, even those who served in the Civil War. It’s good to honor and memorialize friends and family who have gone on. Honoring them reestablishes a foundation of family values for own lives -- where we came from and how we got here. Family values stabilize communities and help us learn to live together peacefully.

Nevertheless, we returned to a world where it’s ok to kill others who have different beliefs and values even if we don’t know them. “It’s a righteous cause!” Last week a gunman killed a young couple outside the Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C. Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky, Israeli Embassy staff members, were planning to fly to Israel this week to meet Lischinsky’s family in Jerusalem.

In a CBS interview Robert Milgrim, Sarah’s father said, she spent several summers in Israel working with “Palestinian and Israeli groups to bring them together.” On her LinkedIn page, Milgrim wrote that she was “at the intersection of peacebuilding, religious engagement, and environmental work,” and she was committed “to fostering understanding between different peoples.”

Yaron Lischinsky, born in Nuremberg, Germany, was a dual citizen of Germany and Israel. One of his professors said, “He was a Christian, a true lover of Israel, served in the IDF, and chose to dedicate his life to the State of Israel and the Zionist cause. He embodied the Judeo-Christian values and set an example for young people worldwide.”

Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky were just starting their lives together as the epitome peacemakers in the Middle East. The man who randomly killed them outside the museum shouted “Free Palestine” when museum security arrested him. In his irrational sense of “justice” the gunman executed two of the best hopes for bringing peace and understanding to the Middle East.

At the beginning of every semester, I tell my students we are going to learn how to discuss issues and topics civilly even if we can’t agree. This past year I warned them that if their arguments or debates got to the point of wanting to kill someone, they’ve gone too far. Really? When candidate Trump was running for office last year, we heard many bemoan the fact that the assassin failed to kill him. And that’s at the national level!

The local nightly news begins with who shot whom or committed what crime against others for no reason at all except for anger and hate. Evil forces in this world continue to divide us over lies and uncontrolled, irrational emotions.

I’m thankful for churches and organizations who reach out to help troubled youth or even troubled adults who struggle with so many cares in this life. I’m particularly thankful for individuals who live their lives to help others who need so many kinds of help.

Sarah Milgrim and Yaron Lischinsky planted many flags for peace in a world where irrational people believe justified murder will bring peace.

Daniel L. Gardner is a columnist who lives in Starkville, MS. You may contact him at PJandMe2@gmail.com.