Two Flags, One Nation
Today, I’m struck by two very different images of the American flag.
One photo was taken here in Las Vegas. It shows the flag waving beneath gathering storm clouds overhead. Most of you will understand the metaphors. The flag is flying at half-mast in tribute to the late President Jimmy Carter, who died last week. Another photo was taken from a live television news report on the terrible fires currently engulfing many parts of Los Angeles. That photo shows a flag badly tattered by deadly fire, smoke, and wind, but still waving in its old glory, nonetheless.
The contradictory images of the same symbol amidst very different situations is not lost.
Once there was a time when simply looking up at the flag triggered a lump in my throat and even tear upon hearing the national anthem sung to perfection. Those were honest, heartfelt, uncontrived emotions. Then, this past year and the devastating election result extinguished the final vestiges of my patriotism. It’s been a most painful revelation. Disclosing this emotional response isn’t intended as an expression of any personal hostility nor a display of intended resistance. It’s just my sincere, unshakable, deeply-felt feeling on the state of the nation and millions of people at this moment. Accordingly, do not expect me to revere national holidays or go along with countless contrived displays of excessive superpatriotism. At least, not for a while. Perhaps never again.
Although the flag is explicitly intended to symbolize national unity, it’s also become a cultural divide. What bothers me most is the flag being so badly misused (and abused) as the innocent conduit of so many destructive ideas and those harmful people determined to impose them on us all. We’ve watched politicians trying to out-flag each other, as if posing with two dozen flags versus one dozen flags makes someone twice as patriotic. Now, the flag is used to sell everything from divisive political ideas to cars to mattresses. As evidence, just check out the “Memorial Day Sales” every year, because nothing quite honors the brave war dead quite like shopping for the cheapest discount.
Still, on this day, the majesties of special moments so fleeting as these two powerful images — one flag honoring a man who lived a great and full life of love (now gone) and another flag so valiantly defiant amidst surrounding chaos and destruction — do remain memories to be cherished and even sought after. Even while inundated by my own internal disappointment and disillusionment with America and so many Americans, I’m not immune to the allure and these powerful majesties.
There are plenty of right and wrong ways to use the American flag. These are two of the right ways.
