Red, White and Blue

Ours is the only country deliberately founded on a good idea. 

~John Gunther

June 14 is flag day.  

 

I am the Flag

by Ruth Apperson Rous

I am the flag of the United States of America.

I was born on June 14, 1777, in Philadelphia.

There the Continental Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my country.

My red stripes proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the sanctity of the home.

I typify that indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my nation.

I am a living symbol of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

I voice Abraham Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for the people."

I stand guard over my nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole for my display.

Daily thousands upon thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my country.

I have my own law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is your price of freedom.

As you see me silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no more, no less.

Guard me well, lest your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I was created in freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United States of America.


I wonder if we, as Americans, really ever think about what this flag represents.  It flies over our sports fields, it flies over our government buildings, it's posted in our churches and our schools, it's draped over coffins, and it's folded and presented to our heroes' families.  I'm afraid that we have taken for granted that our flag will always fly.  I hope that you flew your flag on Flag Day. 

I hope that you will fly your flag every day... and remember, exactly, what it represents...and be proud of the country it represents, flaws and all. 

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson

Happy Birthday, Mr. President!

Today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday.  He was born this day in 1809, not far from Hodgenville, Kentucky, on a place called Sinking Spring Farm.  He was an average kid who loved hunting, fishing, and playing.  He learned a dislike of slavery from his parents who, when he was seven years old, moved from Kentucky across the state line into Indiana, in large part because of the slavery issue. When Abraham (he didn't like to be called Abe) was 8 years old his mother died from milk sickness.  Before she died, she told her children, "be good and kind to your father, to one another and to the world."  He never talked about her death except many years later in a letter to a child whose mother had recently died, when he said, "In this sad world of ours, sorrow comes to all; and, to the young, it comes with bitterest agony, because it takes them unawares...I have had experience enough to know what I say."

What a beginning for this much beloved man!  Was this beginning preparing him for the huge challenge that lay ahead of him?  Was God, in His own way, setting the stage for the man who would take the helm of our country in it's greatest time of turmoil and despair?  Only He knows for sure, but I like to believe that beginnings (or middles) like these show us that we can face tremendously difficult times and find our way through them, as long as we allow God to hold us in His hand and guide us. 

My son and I were fortunate to visit Springfield, Illinois several years ago.  We visited Lincoln's library and his home.  For its time, it was very nice. It was not what you would expect for a president of the United States.  We had just visited Mount Vernon.  It was spectacular!  The Lincoln home was a home, like any other. As I stood there in the foyer, listening for the sounds of the Lincoln children and Mary, looking at Abe's chair in the living room, I tried to imagine what he must have been thinking when he left there to become our president.  We all know now, that he had always had a foreboding that something terrible would happen to him.  Was he prepared for the challenges ahead?  How do you prepare for something like that?

I just know that standing in his home I could feel the strength of his character, his love of his family and his love for his country.  I can't really tell you why, but I got choked up standing there.  I can't answer the questions that I've posed here.  What I can do is to be grateful he was here.  I can be grateful that he was the one in the right place, at the right time. 

Was it his beginnings that made it all possible?  Do our beginnings determine where we go and what we accomplish in this life?  I believe that they do-good or bad.  What comes from them is determined by our faith in God and the choices we make.  For my part, I'm glad Mr. Lincoln made the choices he did.  I thank you, Mr. President, and Happy Birthday!