A Flag, a Little Boy and a U.S. Soldier

Rubble everywhere. Fallen structures, bullet holes in walls and the scampering of feet. A little boy of about ten was hiding in the only place he thought they would never find him…an outhouse. He could hear the footsteps and held his breath; would this be his last?

He looked up and saw an arm waving a small U.S. flag. He burst into tears as the U.S. soldier lifted him from the latrine. It was the happiest moment of his life, and he said, he would never forget it!!

Years ago, I read his story in the Dallas Morning News. I wasn’t surprised at all to find out that he eventually moved here and made his home in Oklahoma. 

He loved this country and even as old man, he never forgot and was grateful!!!

I have fond memories of sitting at an old school desk where the seat was attached to the desk. Anybody remember those days? There was an opening to slide in your books and a divot on the top for pens and pencils. 

My teacher would hand out the song books, and we would spend about 15 – 20 minutes singing songs from America’s past. My mind would take me into the land of Dixie, or the hammering of the Erie Canal, the halls of Montezuma or the majestic purple mountains of “America the Beautiful.”

I could see the “amber waves of grain.” I could imagine the “purple mountains” and “fruited plains” and longed for God to crown our good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea!!

Did everyone else see what I imagined as I sat in my seat?

I felt blessed and in my little eleven-year-old brain, I felt God had shed His grace on me!!

Many years later, I got to see those purple mountains and stand on Pikes Peak in Colorado Springs, where Katharine Bates wrote the lyrics to her poem in 1893. It was originally titled Pikes Peak and later turned into a song and renamed, “America the Beautiful.”

If you haven’t sung it for a while, now might be a good time to sing it!!!

We have so much to be grateful for. 

How about taking a few minutes to remember those who fought and fleshed out the ideas “that all men are created equal” and rights are given to us by God, not by the state and not the government.  We take this for granted, but not everybody believed this! These ideas were fought for…some with a pen and many with their lives!!

As I was thinking about the cost of freedom and the peace we enjoy, I struggled with the idea of war. I hate it!!! 

“LORD, I said, I hate it. I hate that freedom comes at such a high cost. I hate it that people have to die so we can be free and have peace!!!!

Then, after a few moments of silence…I heard a still small voice say, “I know all about the cost of freedom. I paid for your freedom and peace with the blood of My Son!”

Like the young boy above who never forgot the soldier who saved him, let’s never take for granted the blessings of God. It also cost Him!!!

Link to America the Beautiful…enjoy.