When I was about 16 years old I got to participate in the retiring of an American Flag. If you have never seen this done, you may be surprised at the procedure. Click here to read specific directions on how this is to be done.I was part of a group of young women ages 12-18 at a Church Girls Camp. Four of us each took a corner of the flag and held it ceremoniously over the camp fire. As it began to burn, we were to toss our corner into the flames. I didn't want to let go, it seemed so sacred and important.
The flag of the United States of America is an icon of peace to me. We may not live in perfection, wealth and constant comfort. But we live in a place where we can have an opinion about whatever we want to have an opinion on and we can voice that opinion. We can choose where our children go to school, how we dress and where we want to earn a living.
But most importantly, we can choose how we worship, what we worship and where we worship. America is built on principles of Faith and Trust in that God who created us. But, if a person chooses to not believe in God, to believe in something or someone else; in the USA, he has that privilege.
I love Old Glory, the flag of the United States of America. I love America.
We often sang this song at Lincoln Elementary School.
(Rexburg Idaho, 1970's)
This Land is Your Land
Woody Guthrie
This Land is Your Land
Woody Guthrie
This land is your land, This land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood forest to the Gulf Stream Waters
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
I roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
When the sun came shining then I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
This land was made for you and me
Chorus
3 comments:
I'm with you. I feel such comfort when I look at the flag. Remember, June 14th is Flag Day. I love the national anthem also. I especially love the last verse and it is very rarely sung:
Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand Between their loved homes and the war's desolation! Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave! May the Lord bless our troops, wherever they are.
What a beautiful post. With all the bad stuff going on these days we sometimes forget how great we have it and how blessed we are to live in this country. Thanks for your sweet reminder.
Jenny--I also wanted to thank you for your comment on my blog. I loved your story. It gave me chills picturing you singing with your loved ones in so many different places. I loved that. Thanks so much for sharing it with me.
Post a Comment