Reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

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I was touched by a recent patriotic photograph in our local newspaper. The photo was taken at our local Veterans Day ceremony a few weeks ago. Our community is loyal to its veterans. I have written before about how our dear friend Joy Brown, who passed away at age 100, used to quote “The Old Ragged Flag” at those ceremonies.

We sat behind our friend Carl back in 2014 when I took the photo of Miss Joy above.  This photo of him taken that day has long captured the respect and patriotism of those ceremonies for me.

That ceremony a few years ago was in a local meeting room. The attendance was largely adults. The newspaper photo that touched me recently was from this year’s ceremony, which was held at the local middle school. In the back of the photo are several men repeating the Pledge of Allegiance with their hands on their hearts. Among them is our county mayor. In front of the men are a teacher and sixteen children from a local preschool. The children also have their hands on their hearts, and they are leading the assembly in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Though I am a strong proponent of homeschooling from birth through high school, I was so happy to see those sixteen little children standing quietly and respectfully with their hands on their hearts, saying the Pledge of Allegiance, hearing and saying that we are one nation under God. It was beautiful.

When we first started to homeschool, I tried so hard to recreate a school atmosphere that I set up a little classroom on one side of our den and put up a bulletin board. On our first day of school I had our children recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

It took me a while to realize that the bulletin board wasn’t essential and that it’s okay if a lot of learning is taking place outside the classroom. However, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in homeschool? It certainly isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it is an idea to think about.

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake
to every human institution,
whether to a king as the one in authority, 
or to governors as sent by him
for the punishment of evildoers
and the praise of those who do right. 
For such is the will of God,
that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people. 
Act as free people,
and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil,
but use it as bond-servants of God. 
Honor all people, love the brotherhood,
fear God, honor the king.
1 Peter 2:13-17

 

 

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