Pledging Allegiance to What?

I was the son of a preacher man. I was homeschooled. Enough said.

Right?

Today’s my son’s first day at public school and it felt…weird. It was weird because it’s an experience that I don’t really share (I did go to first and second grade…but that was oh so long ago!). It was weird because a part of me feels guilty for shipping him off (homeschooler, remember?). It was weird because my son’s such an odd kid and he was really concerned that his backpack cubby was too far away from his desk and it seemed like too much work to him to have to walk back and forth. It was weird ’cause there were some kids just sobbing at their desk. It was weird ’cause he’s now a part of the system…integrated.

But you want to know what felt the most strange? Walking out of the school to the kids all saying the pledge of allegiance. Isn’t there something strange about our kids reciting the pledge of allegiance?

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.

Honestly I don’t really want my kid pledging allegiance to a flag or a nation. I’d much rather my kid pledge allegiance to things that last, to things that matter.

al·le·giance

(noun)

1. the loyalty of a citizen to his or her government or of a subject to his or her sovereign.

2. loyalty or devotion to some person, group, cause, or the like.

Do I want my kid claiming devotion to America? Really? If you could claim complete devotion to something and insert into your life a daily rhythm in order to support this devotion to what would you choose to devote yourself? Loving your neighbor? Being a faithful spouse? Devotion to God? Devotion to peace, unity, generosity? Devotion to America…

So…

Stand up–as if you’re ready to take action, poised and prepared to follow through with the committment you’re about to make

Stand in unity–stand amongst friends, co-workers, classmates because if we’re going to stand for something we’re better off standing together

Place your hand on your heart–as a symbol of the unification of your heart which represents your core inner identity and your hands which represent the actions that result from your personhood

Pledge devotion–to something, to someone, to some idea. But mean it. Live it. Love it. Die for it.

Some will choose flag and country others will choose anarchy…but we should all choose…shouldn’t we?

To be honest I bet Jones was completely confused by the whole thing. I’m imagining a silly look on his face begging the question “what the heck are we doing?” The kid questions everything and doesn’t let anything slide…crazy kid. I hope he enjoys his first day at school.

Singing and Dancing Children

Please get to know my son through these poorly produced videos. I think you’ll like them.

Jones' Dream

My son Jones had a hard time going to sleep last night. He said that he kept having bad dreams about ghosts. When Jessica suggested that he tried to dream about something funny or fun, here is how he responded:

“My dreams…my brain doesn’t get to choose them, the pictures. (all of a sudden he ‘gets a dream’) Now I’m seeing a table. The table has a tiny door that goes inward. I’m going through the door and it takes me to the ocean…”

Good times

Who will go?

Renie is a woman who has worked in Baja Mexico for over twenty years. Please take a moment to read her words that were written in an email to me a few weeks ago. They are touching and quite challenging to read. Renie has given me permission to share excerpts of this with you.

Hi Ryan,
My husband Ted and I have lived in the Ensenada area for almost 20 years. We moved to Maneadero about 16 years ago after working under a Mexican Pastor for 4 years.
I had felt led to work with sick children for most of my Christain life. My husband Ted and I prepared ourselves to serve by finishing our degrees for service in the mission field. Ted who had been a career military man for 20 years and then finished a teaching degree at Western Baptist College. I finished my RN after working as a Practical Nurse for almost 20 years.
Our first 4 years in Mexico we were involved in learning the language, the culture and the ways God would lead us to help.
We are each almost 65 years old.

We are ready to think about letting those younger and more physically able to take over, but there does not seem to be anyone who has a heart to lay down their lives for the most helpless of this society, profoundly handicapped and abandoned children.

The elderly and the handicapped are the forgotten ones in this society. When I first came to Mexico I was driving around the streets of Ensenada. I encountered an old woman sitting in the median of a busy street . She was a double amputee. She sat on the ground next to a battered wheelchair in sweltering heat, with a cup she extended to cars as they passed by. I was so shocked by this I stopped, picked up the old woman put her and her wheelchair in my car and drove her to her home, ( she directed me). When I got her to her home, her,”family” were not pleased with me. They had placed her there. It was her duty to “earn” her way in the family by begging. The elderly and the handicapped are not valued here. They are often considered a burden to the family, and their only value is how they can be exploited.
There is a place in Tijuana called El Refugio. At any time it houses from 60 to 100 elderly and adult handicapped whose family members have abandoned them. There are a few dedicated souls who work night and day trying to take care of a never ending stream of unfortunate elders and adult handicapped who suffer from dementia, malnutrition, abuse and exposure to the elements.They are turned out in the streets by their own families. The floors and the walls are filthy, the residents sleep on urine soaked mattresses on the floor, and the stench is unbearable…

…Most of the women that help us care for the children we serve are Christians. They are dedicated and selfless. They come to work during the rainy season when they have to slog thru mud up to their knees to get here. They come even when we cannot pay them for weeks because we have not received donations. That kind of dedication and value system is what they have learned in their local churches and speaks highly of the local pastors and what they are teaching…

Who will answer the call?


F$%& You!

Ok, pardon the title, I just wanted to get your attention so I could share a bit about my perspective on four letter words (and others that may have more or fewer letters but still fall into the category).

I think I said my first cuss word on accident. I heard someone say bastard in a movie and I had never heard it before. I had no reason to think it was a no no word so I said it freely…until someone told me otherwise. I think I was like twenty four at the time.*

Cussing was never much a part of my vocabulary, nor was it heard in my house much at all growing up. As a matter of fact, as a child I was encouraged not to say crass words such as “butt” “crap” and “sucks”.

As an adult I wouldn’t call myself foul mouthed by any means. Generally I think that cuss words make you sound unintelligent. Specifically the F-bomb is a worthless word in my understanding because when a word can mean anything it really means nothing. Isn’t that the case with the f-bomb? It can be a noun, a pronoun, an adjective, an adverb, etc. You can put it in between any words in your sentence and it fits (even multiple times if you wish). So in my book, it’s a worthless word that ruins your vocabulary. But other so called naughty words are quite useful. Sometimes those words exactly express what you’re feeling, thinking, or experiencing. So in those cases why not drop a four letter word?

Some might argue from Scripture that we’re not supposed to let any unwholesome talk come out of our mouths…which is true. But my understanding of this Scripture (from the book of Ephesians) is that it’s written to a group experiencing conflict within their community. They’re trying to figure out how to do life together in this new context as followers of Christ. The continuation of this scripture is that we’re not to use unwholesome speech but instead should be building each other up and encouraging each other. So here’s the question I pose to you: is this verse challenging our vocabulary or our content? Is Paul (who wrote those words) telling us not to use bad words or telling us not to speak badly about others? I firmly believe that the Biblical challenge is not to avoid saying “ass” but to avoid taking away the dignity of others by saying negative things about them, by gossiping about them, by denigrating who they are, etc. It’s not just that it’s mean, but by speaking about people that way we’re attacking God as the creator of these people…and we have absolutely non right to do this! How dare we call ugly what God has deemed beautiful.

So when Jones tells Jessica that she needs to “cut your damn dreads off” we chose not to yell at him, put him in time out, etc. We simply communicated to him that damn was not the best kind of word to use. But when Jones tells us or another child to shut up or calls someone an idiot (thanks Disney movies) he gets in big trouble because he’s trying to take away the dignity of another person.

You can disagree with me and I’m cool with that. But I personally feel like we spent so much effort in the church teaching our children to not say cuss words while gossip in the church was rampant. We taught our children to guard their vocabulary instead of guarding their content. We challenged them to focus on words instead of focusing on people.

peace.

* This may or may not be an exageration.