Slowly Fading

What did the American flag stand for when it was first sewn together? What did the red, white, and blue colors mean when they first united? What did the stars and stripes signify when it was flown for the first time in battle? Didn’t the flag stand for freedom? Didn’t it mean liberty and justice? And didn’t it signify one nation under God?

Today my heart ached and got angry every time I saw an American flag flying in the sky. I couldn’t help but think our country’s colors are slowly fading.

Today my heart ached most of all because of the nine people who were shot and killed at their church in Charleston, South Carolina. When I looked up at each flag I passed today I felt sadness because if that flag represents what this country stands for today, I’m not proud of it anymore.

Those colors red, white and blue mean something different than when they first came together to represent our country. Those stars and stripes don’t mean freedom anymore, or liberty, justice and a nation that serves God. I look at the flag, and I feel ashamed to live in a country that brags about freedom but the people in it are not really free at all.

We are enslaved. We are enslaved to racism and hatred. And as long as we keep worshiping other gods and not turning to the one true God, who gives us every breath, this country will remain enslaved.

If we were a nation serving God, the Word of God would be preached every time a tragedy like this occurs. We as a nation would come together and fall on our knees to ask God for direction and help. We are a nation that needs to fear God.

"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."

We are divided and we are falling. Our country’s colors are fading because we are a nation that refuses to bow down to the One who created the heavens and earth.

Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.

2 Chronicles 7:14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.