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.
As Americans, if we had the privilege to be born here, we learn this pledge as children and recite it all our lives. The words were originally composed by Colonel George Balch in 1887; revised by Francis Bellamy in 1892; and formally adopted by Congress as the American pledge in 1942. The official name, The Pledge of Allegiance, was adopted in 1945.
My family proudly flies the American flag at our home (pictured above), and every time I see it flying in the wind, I quietly recite our pledge to myself. On Tuesday we elect a new President of the United States of America. What a job he or she will have. I don’t envy the winner; and I can’t begin to imagine the totality of that job. Can you?
Our great country certainly faces a lot of challenges, but that is nothing new. The challenges may be different, and in many ways more urgent, than in past years. But even the enormous divide between the parties is consistent.
No matter who is named our new President, in the wee hours of Wednesday morning I will still be an American. I will continue to recite and honor The Pledge of Allegiance every time I look at the flag we proudly fly at our home.
You know what else I will do? I will continue to have opinions and care about the issues we face. What is most important to me may be different from what is most important to you, and I can live with that. It’s OK, because I am an American.
I will not be shy in letting my state and national elected officials know how I feel and why. They aren’t my friends on Facebook and they don’t follow me on twitter, so I won’t waste my time there. I will call and write them directly. I can do that, you know, because I am an American. You can too!
The spirit and strength of America is more than our elected officials.
It is me. It is you. It is what we each say and, more importantly, what we do day-in and day-out. It is who we are individually that creates who we are collectively.
Whomever the new President is, I will wish the person well. I will pray for his or her wisdom and that they are surrounded by, and guided by, wisdom too. No matter who it is, I will still pledge my allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
I’ve heard it said “what unites us is greater than what divides us.” I choose to believe that is true. I hope – actually, I pray that is true. It is if we, ONE NATION UNDER GOD, choose to be INDIVISIBLE, and seek LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL. Maybe it “isn’t all that simple”… but I don’t believe it has to be so hard.