As I sat, patiently waiting for the light to turn green, the American Flag flapping in the light wind caught my eye. It was an average size flag (nothing showy), faded and beginning to show some frayed edges. I’m not sure how often I have seen this flag, but it is in a location where I easily could have seen it several times a day. Yet, for some reason, I usually don’t pay it any mind.
But, this day was different. As I looked at the flag, the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner began to run through my mind, “…our flag was still there;
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?” What an incredibly moving song!
I began to think of the times I’ve watched soldiers fold the flag that was draped over a coffin and graciously present it to a grieving mother or widow. My heart began to sink. Then, the vivid memories of that lone bugler playing Taps began to flood my mind. The vibrato of those piercing notes grabs the soul and stirs the heart.
My mind raced to images of Iwo Jima, then to that experience many years ago of watching the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The crosses at those military cemeteries, the rows and rows that I saw at Arlington, and even the ones over in Europe are stunning reminders of the ultimate price that has been paid by so many for “the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
I loved seeing that flag that day, but it made me wonder. It was the same old flag that I had seen thousands of times, but it had become so common place that I didn’t even connect with it most times. What was different on this particular day? It certainly was not the flag. Old Glory was still its faithful mainstay… “our flag was still there!” The flag did not need to change. I was the one who had dismissed it without special notice so often. I was the one who needed to re-focus and re-engage.
Think about this in relationship to worship. I have heard many times over the years, “We sing the same songs…those same old songs we’ve been singing for years. The prayers are always the same. The sermons review the same points over and over.” Wait a minute! Why isn’t worship the moving experience we think it should be? I suggest it is for the same reason that viewing the Stars and Stripes is not a moving experience every time. The flag is not to be blamed, nor is the worship service. I am!
If we will truly worship with our hearts fully engaged, then simple phrases in songs and simple thoughts in a prayer can lead our minds on a journey of praise-filled worship!