Recently I was at St Helena’s Episcopal Church in Beaufort, South Carolina. The church is very old, very beautiful and contains the typical graveyards found throughout South with generations of folks who lived and died in this small community buried there. Many of the graves had American flags to signify those who had fought and those who died in the many conflicts that occurred over the last 300 years of the church’s existence, from the Revolutionary War to more recent conflicts, and being the South, the grave sites with Confederate Flags for those who fought in the bloody war between the States.
The graveyard surrounds the Church and is shaded by enormous live oaks trees that are draped in Spanish Moss, as if the trees themselves are wearing veils in perpetual mourning for the dead. At the outer perimeter of the Church grounds I found the grave site of two British Soldiers, who died during the Revolutionary War. They must have been buried together, under a common grave stone, far away from friends, family and those that loved them. Of all the grave sites, this one hurt me the most and I stood there for a moment and said a prayer for the long dead soldiers, buried in a foreign land, far, far away from those that loved them.
So on this 4th of July I will remember those who fought and died for this Nation, but I also will remember those who are still in harm’s way in Afghanistan and other areas of conflict and pray for the safety and well-being of all of those men and women in a foreign land far, far away from the people that love them.
Lord God Almighty, in whose Name the founders of this country won liberty for themselves and for us, and lit the torch of freedom for nations then unborn: Grant that we and all the people of this land may have grace to maintain our liberties in righteousness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen
The graveyard surrounds the Church and is shaded by enormous live oaks trees that are draped in Spanish Moss, as if the trees themselves are wearing veils in perpetual mourning for the dead. At the outer perimeter of the Church grounds I found the grave site of two British Soldiers, who died during the Revolutionary War. They must have been buried together, under a common grave stone, far away from friends, family and those that loved them. Of all the grave sites, this one hurt me the most and I stood there for a moment and said a prayer for the long dead soldiers, buried in a foreign land, far, far away from those that loved them. 
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