FIRMLY PLANTED ◽ ENCOURAGEMENT
I grew up in a small town that was about 10 years behind the times. In my high school in the early 70’s, girls were not allowed to wear jeans, only pant suits. Pant suits! The rage was cool bell-bottom jeans—it seemed so unfair! We protested (mildly) and staged a “walk-out.” Eventually we were allowed to wear jeans, because the times they were a’changin.
Personal freedom, such as what to wear, is one thing, but defying patriotic tradition? Fortunately, in our country we still have the freedom to be outwardly patriotic, or not. In high school, I refused to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. If I couldn’t get away with sitting, I would stand silently. Those were the days of casting off the status quo, remember. Let me explain my youthful utopian thinking. True to my Enneagram 9 personality, I’ve always felt like a “citizen of the world.” My thought process: The entire world is God’s creation. He loves everyone. He is love, and so, he loves every nation under God. Shouldn’t we have a “whole earth” mentality and pledge to bring love, peace, and justice everywhere? In my idealistic, purely honest heart, I couldn’t relate to pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth that represented only one small part of the world.
Maturity brought a perspective and understanding that made me grateful for our country and the Pledge became more meaningful. I’m grateful for the freedom, privileges, abundance and choices we have as Americans, and I try not to take them for granted.
I’m fortunate to live in the USA (though what it might be like to live in France, Sweden, or New Zealand I can’t say…). Even so, the idea of pledging allegiance to a flag still doesn’t feel right. I can say the words (mentally striking out “flag”) with gratitude, but in my spirit, I know there’s only One to whom I can truly pledge allegiance in the deepest sense of the word. I think of myself as a citizen of heaven first, the world second, and America third. God’s love is for all mankind, and my allegiance to him, and his promise to one day unite his people scattered throughout the earth, overrides everything else.
But my thoughts are just my thoughts. Gazing at my small piece of the world surrounding me and contemplating in my favorite swing-chair, I think of God’s love for his creation--especially people, created out of love, to love. A little farther down that path of thought I pause…Do my plants love each other? If the trees and the hills clap their hands…well, who knows? How does God see it and what does that world-view look like?
Revelation 7:9-10
"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count,
from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.
And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”