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We are the Flag

 

Dear Editor,

 

With all the crazy things going on in the world today, including the United States, I

believe that a good day for us all to get refocused would be the Fourth of July. I know that there will be the usual parades and other festivities, all of which are great – but it seems to me that, this year, especially since we have just witnessed another great tragedy in Florida, it would be somewhat of a new beginning for us all to rally around our great flag.

Since the school textbooks have mostly taken away the correct study of our history, to be politically correct, a lot of adults and most students know little about what our great flag stands for. I recently read an article written by a great commentator named Melvin Munn who was buried in nearby Tennessee in 2004 at the age of 96. Please take enough time to read this and to share it with your children.

We are the Flag: “Old Glory- red, white and blue. What do you see in it? What does it mean to you? What does it really represent? Think about these questions and see if you are not really part of the flag and what it means.

Think too of this question: If Americans do not honor their own flag, who will?

What do we see when we look at the flag of the United States? What does it mean? For

what does if stand? In an idyllic sense, Old Glory is the symbol of all the fine things for which this nation stood at the time of its founding and the wondrous opportunities it has afforded since that small beginning.

In the words of George Washington, “We take the stars and blue from heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, this showing we have separated from her, and the white shall go down to posterity representing liberty.”

This flag has been through many a war. It has stood in the face of danger and has flown over many heroic deeds. It has inspired poets and brought forth songs. It has been respected most of the time and revered some of the time. It has sometimes been mistreated, neglected and shown little respect.

To some the flag means love, freedom, tranquility and justice. To some a glimpse of Old

Glory recalls stories of Valley Forge, of Gettysburg, of Guadalcanal, of lwo Jima, of Korea and Vietnam.

What does the flag mean? What does it mean to you personally? We can hardly respect

and reverence the flag unless we know what it means, unless we really feel deep inside that we ought to hold the flag in high esteem.

I read a well-written patriotic article in a publication. It told the story of Old Glory in first

person, speaking as if the words were those of the flag. It recalled how years ago parades were held on July Fourth and Veteran’s Day, and on other national holidays, and how everyone showed respect to the flag and saluted in the approved manner. This patriotic article inspired Francis Scott Key to write The Star-Spangled Banner at Fort McHenry, Baltimore, in 1814, following a night of bombardment.

The flag makers of 1777 did not reveal why they chose the colors red, white and blue. But in 1782 the Department of State attributed these meanings to the colors: red stands for hardiness and courage; white is the symbol of hope, purity and innocence; blue, the color of heaven, stands for loyalty, friendship, justice, truth and reverence to God.

The interpretation of the colors is idealistic, taking into account the loftiest thoughts of our forefathers. The wonderful thing about Old Glory is that our forefathers made this

interpretation of the flag come true. This came to be the meaning of Old Glory to the people of the world- in all nations everywhere.

Because of the freedom for which it stood and the people of the nation who represented it, the flag of the United States of America came to be loved and respected all around the world, and the nation for which it stood as a symbol became known as the land of opportunity.

Why was this true? It was because the flag was not just a set of beautiful colors or a

statement of lofty ideals. It was not just something rippling in the breeze. The flag became synonymous with the people of the United States, and when others saw our flag they did not think of it as simply a national symbol, but they thought of the people who made up our nation as it grew and became stronger and stronger.

Yes, the people are what make a flag. They make it great or they fail to make it great, for

the people really are the thing which the flag symbolizes. If our people are brave and strong and just and defenders of freedom, then our flag stands for bravery and strength and justice and freedom.

You are the flag of the United States today. You are what is meant by Old Glory in the minds of the people all around the world. What you think of your flag, they will also think. If you honor Old Glory and live up to its high ideals, then they too will honor the flag. If you neglect to honor your flag, if you wave the flag of the enemy of our nation, if you drag our nation’s good name in the dust, and if you desecrate the flag, the other peoples around the world will not respect it either.

Americans who today cast dishonor on Old Glory do not deserve the protection and the

proud heritage which it represents. Remember that the flag is you and that the next time somebody dishonors our flag, it is also you he/she are dishonoring. We all need to resolve anew to make Old Glory the most respected flag anywhere – all around the globe.”

I’ve notice that almost everyone is wringing their hands because it seems that no

politician or anyone else can straighten out the mess that the United States and the world

has fallen into. Well, as usual, God has the answer and it is printed clearly in Joshua 1:8:

“This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shall meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein; for then thou shall make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success”.

I encourage you all to take the time, each day, to read God’s Word. It will change your

life, the life of your family, and change this nation back to “One Nation Under God”.

 

Keen Johnson

Nicholasville