The fireworks have faded, and the picnic baskets put away
for another year. The red, white, and
blue decorations are discarded, and some people have even removed the flags
that waved proudly from the front porch only a few days ago. The outfits celebrating the holiday are
cleaned and hung in the back of the closet, with hopes that they will still fit
next year. It’s back to work as usual
until the next holiday.
Holidays like Christmas, Easter, 4th of July,
Memorial Day, etc., are days that we set apart to recognize, commemorate, and
celebrate certain events in history. It
is a good thing to bring special attention to these events, right? Yes, of course it is. But my favorite people are the people who
remember these events every day! People
who fly their flags 365, not just patriotic holidays. I suppose there could be the argument that
flying it every day would lead us to become immune to its presence, and make it
less special. Perhaps that is true for
some. When I’m inside my house, I don’t
see it. But each time I go outside, or
turn into my driveway, I see it, and am thankful. And, when driving through the streets of my
community, I LOVE to see it waving from the side of your house!
Exactly one month after the 9/11 attacks, I had the
opportunity to travel to Boston with Mrs. Thompson’s AP US History class. We weren’t even sure we would be allowed to
fly, but thankfully, air travel was allowed to resume before our departure
date, October 11, 2001. We flew into
Logan airport, the origin of those flights that brought about the tragedies of
9/11.
History was one of my least favorite subjects in school, and
I remembered very little of what I learned.
Visiting the sites of the events that would shape our nation awakened
within me a new feeling of pride in my country, and a sober realization of the
real cost of freedom. Visiting the graves of some of the founding fathers felt
like walking on sacred ground, and my heart was full of gratitude. Sitting on the cool grass in the Lexington
Green, and walking across the (replica) Old North Bridge, we were taken back to
the first days of the revolution. I
could almost smell the gunpowder. It
changed me.
Needless to say, the trip had more of an effect on me than
it did the students, and I learned (and felt) so much. In their defense, had I been an upcoming 10th
grader on a “history trip”, I probably wouldn’t have been as caught up in it
either. I hope that someday they will
remember having the honor to visit the pages of history.
We live in a very troubled world today. The past week, even in the shadow of our
celebration of freedom, we have seen so much ugliness within our nation. Our government is spiraling out of
control. Our presidential candidate
choices are abysmal. Martin Luther
King, Ben Franklin, John Hancock – what would these men think and say if they
could see what we have become? What does
Jesus think? How can we fix this?
I saw a post on Facebook that said something like this: “If you weren’t saying ‘Black Lives Matter’
yesterday, how can you say ‘All Lives Matter’ today?” Huh? I
didn’t say “Black Lives Matter”, or “Blue Lives Matter” yesterday or the day
before. Because I DO BELIEVE that All
Lives Matter. Until everyone embraces
the fact that All Lives Matter, then things will just continue to
deteriorate. And as we continue to kill
and hate each other within the borders of our nation, we will prove Abraham
Lincoln’s words that “A house divided against itself shall fall.” (Also Mark 3:25)
Sometimes I just wish Jesus would hurry on up and come get
us. But that is the coward’s way
out. There is still work to be
done. We tend to think that there is
nothing we can personally do to effect the change our world needs. And there’s probably not anything that we can
do on a global level. But I can make a
change in my heart, in my household, in my family. In my small little world where I live. And so can you. In the words of Gandhi – “Be the change you
wish to see in the world.” And the words
of Michael Jackson’s song, start with “the man in the mirror.”
I love this nation, and what she once stood for. I pledge my allegiance to a flag that
represents that which upon we were founded. Today’s America is not the America for which my
heroes fought, bled, and died. But we must maintain our allegiance, and resolve
to be the change. If we don’t do that,
change will come anyway, but in a very bad way. Fly your flags! Pray for our leaders! Pray for our law enforcement officers. Pray for our pastors. Pray for our citizens. Pray for courage and integrity within our own
hearts. And never stop praying for God to
Bless America!!
