Vacationing last week in Tennessee, where the school year ends soon, I attended church at a small parish near Nashville. It was their Youth Sunday, celebrating graduating seniors. In many churches, such services are a springtime tradition. There was nothing unusual about the service or the sentiments expressed, which - like high school valedictories - highlighted the confidence and aspirations of young people preparing to leave family, friends and community for the first time. Offstage, the poised and hopeful may also be apprehensive, uncertain and a bit fearful. But they all take the step.

This is the season of new beginnings and, while folks of all ages can share the anticipation of rebirth, it belongs uniquely to the young. Those of us who watch the generational procession from the church pews, stadium benches or auditorium folding chairs measure our next moves against a backdrop of prior experience, evaluating options and consequences and tempering enthusiasms with caution. Consequently, it’s sometimes hard not to punctuate the student speeches with silent head shakes and murmurs, as if to say, “not so fast” or “if only … .”

One Youth Sunday speaker spoke of holding fast to your dreams. She concluded, in that way common to the young, “I think my generation is the most idealistic generation.”

Her words echoed, I think unconsciously, President John Kennedy’s memorable inaugural address, proclaiming that “the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans.” Kennedy spoke for a generation neither callow nor naïve, a generation “tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage – and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed … .”

It was a generation mindful of the grave responsibilities of global leadership, promising to “bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.”

The harsh realities of the Cold War did not negate American idealism. Kennedy’s words embodied the exuberant optimism of the New Frontier as its leaders emerged from what they saw as the fog of the ‘50s. And while their sense of limitless opportunity placed Neil Armstrong on the moon in 1969, it also led us to Vietnam, where we first learned that there were burdens we were unwilling to bear, and to the vast overreaches of the ‘60s welfare state.

Idealism is more than good intentions. The pursuit and defense of our ideals always has a price, currently being paid by American troops around the world. Their ranks will soon grow with new recruits from this year’s graduating classes.

So from my pew last week I thought of that other tradition that comes in late May, along with Youth Sundays, the end of the school year, and graduation ceremonies. It’s another day to commemorate the service of Americans, many of whom died as young soldiers and remain in our thoughts forever young and idealistic.

Memorial Day traces back to May 30, 1868. In 1971, Congress made it a national holiday, setting the day of commemoration as the last Monday in May. That nod to the convenience of a three-day weekend diminished the holiday. It’s now too often a celebration of the beginning of summer rather than a time to honor war dead.

This year’s observances, however, may be marred by more than neglect. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has urged his supporters - may they be few - to make Memorial Day a day of antiwar activism. He suggests they make signs saying “support the troops – end the war” to hold up at Memorial Day parades.

I’d contrast the cynicism of antiwar activism on a day of solemn commemoration of heroic sacrifice with the inspiring idealism that has long defined this nation. That idealism is rekindled annually by young Americans, who by their service, sacrifice, faith and optimism extend our traditions and preserve our freedoms. As we remember our fallen this Memorial Day, let us also pray for those who prepare to take their place in our country’s defense. We honor them all by holding on to hope, banishing cynicism, and cherishing our traditions and ideals.