On a brisk and lustrous morning in 1986 a preschooler attended class in a rural, American town. His thoughts were on Cheetos, chattering chimps and a hundred characters he could be. He didn't look at the clock. He didn't slave for a grade. He forgot to tie his shoes. He didn't consider the peddling of U.S. munitions to Iran. And Chernobyl sounded like a vegetable that he definitely didn't want to eat.
No, these were innocent times for the boy living in a rural, American town. Times of peace and times of joy.
Some might say he was "ignorant" in his youth. Others might gossip, "benighted." But I say he saw the clearest of us all as he stood for his morning pledge. The snacks aside and the music turned low, the hum of the class hushed to a mark above mute. He wiped his hands on his brown corduroys and left the cheesy residue clinging in the ridges. He stood beside his chair even smaller than he, and didn't just stand but stood tall. Gently placing his now tidy hand on a worn-down T-shirt, he quietly lifted his head and fixed his unadulterated eyes to heights he would always dream of reaching. Perfectly centered in the white-bricked room, hung an image of honor and hope. Not in a corner abandoned and cloaked but equidistantly placed for all to behold and revere. Not lost, not forgotten, not forsaken. When this time came the atmosphere changed from a rapid pace to a reverent pause. He knew what to do, he knew his surmise and he uttered the words with great pride:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Perhaps he was just young and ignorant. Perhaps he didn't grasp the animosity slowly pushing its way across the country. It could have been a common, American case of elective blindness. The answer depends on whether or not the truth lies in the act or whether it remains concealed to the interior of the heart? Has the truth turned against us? Have we forgotten and turned against truth? Is God truth? Have we forgotten God? Have we turned against Him? Where is this boy we speak of? Where are his neighbors?
They are dying or dead, that's where they are. Dying like faith in God and hope for country. Dying like friendship and honesty. Decaying with corruption, greed and selfishness. Rotting with deceit, war, hunger and abortion. Ebbing the ever darkening lines of conscience from what is right to what is acceptable and from what is acceptable to what is desired. The darkened desires pull the blanket of blindness over the eyes of anyone willing to sleep with the devil. The devil has many a guest in his house of pleasure, apparent freedom and rapid wealth.
Where will you stand today? What pledge will you give? What God will you follow? The God of sorrow, delusion, fear, remorse, sin, weakness, guilt, affliction and obscurity? Or the God of love, truth, honor, faith, clarity, forgiveness, charity, justice, peace, mercy and perfection?
As for the boy....he believes that this God of mercy still exists. He knows that the armies of goodness outnumber the incumbents of evil. He trusts that this nation will once again be united "under God." He begs for us to remember the pledge we made as children in classrooms across America, hand over heart, eyes raised to the heavens, hope spilling from our lips, faith spilling from our souls.
I break allegiance to the plague of the Divided States of America and to the Socialists by which it fails, abomination before God, not invisible, with poverty and malice for all.
My pledge is to God, to my family and to my nation. Not to those who "govern" it.
