{"id":3794,"date":"2024-07-04T09:10:13","date_gmt":"2024-07-04T13:10:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3794"},"modified":"2024-07-04T09:11:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-04T13:11:12","slug":"cracking-the-code-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/04\/cracking-the-code-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Cracking the Code"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

The United States Flag Code can be reduced to a single sentence: You\u2019re doing it wrong<\/em>.

It\u2019s a good bet that most of your fellow citizens, even on America\u2019s 248th<\/sup> birthday, aren\u2019t actually aware that such a code exists. Specifically, it\u2019s Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code, and represents federal law that is technically punishable by elected magistrates.

Nevertheless, in the words of Captain Barbarossa in Pirates of the Caribbean,<\/em> \u201cThe [Pirates\u2019 Code] is more what you\u2019d call \u2018guidelines\u2019 than actual rules.\u201d

We can all be grateful that the regulations of the Flag Code are rarely enforced. They\u2019re more like guidelines or social etiquette. No one, after all, wants a federal agent making common cause with the local ants and raiding their Fourth of July picnic because of flag display violations.

Historians disagree as to whether Betsy Ross actually created the first American flag. What we know for sure is that the flag as it flies today, with 50 stars and 13 stripes, was designed in 1958 by a 17-year-old high school student named Robert G. Heft of Lancaster, Ohio.

Robert\u2019s teacher gave him only a B-minus for his sewing project. But President Dwight D. Eisenhower was sufficiently impressed to choose his design out of 1,500 entries in a national contest. Thankfully, Heft\u2019s teacher made good on her promise to raise his grade in the unlikely event that his design proved to be Ike\u2019s favorite.

So, what do we learn from the United States Flag Code?

There are so many do\u2019s and don\u2019ts that it\u2019s a near certainty you\u2019ve been doing something wrong, probably for a long time.

For instance, whenever a flag passes by, you are required to stop, face the flag, and put your right hand over your heart. If you\u2019re wearing a hat, you must remove it with your right hand and place it on your left shoulder.

As all Boy Scouts learn, the flag must be raised quickly but lowered slowly.

A flag must be displayed on or near the main administration building of every public institution (schools, post offices, and such). It may be flown from dawn until dusk, and must not be displayed outdoors at night unless it is illuminated. If inclement weather is approaching, the flag must be brought indoors. No other flag may be flown above it.

Can an American flag ever be displayed on a float in a parade? The Code says no.

Nor can it be draped or imprinted over the hood, top, sides, or back of a vehicle, train, or boat. So much for Peter Fonda\u2019s famous American flag motorcycle in Easy Rider<\/em>.

The Code stipulates that the flag must never be used for any advertising purpose, nor embroidered on cushions or handkerchiefs, printed on paper napkins or boxes, nor used as any portion of a costume. There go your table decorations for later today.

The flag should never be used as clothing, bedding, or drapery \u2013 a real damper on patriotic T-shirts. It must not be festooned, drawn back, or arranged in folds as bunting, but must always be allowed to fall free. Major League Baseball has clearly decided that World Series games should be exceptions.

The flag, of course, must never touch the ground. Nor should it ever be carried flat or horizontally.

Is it OK to wear a flag pin on your shirt? Yes, but only on your left lapel. As the Code states, \u201cThe flag represents a living country and is itself considered a living thing.\u201d  That is why a lapel pin should be worn on the left side, traditionally associated with the heart.

There\u2019s quite a bit more. Check out the details for yourself at 4 USC Ch. 1: THE FLAG (house.gov)<\/a>.

The Flag Code seems disturbingly reminiscent of America\u2019s tax code. Or the small print when you sign up for a new streaming service.

Or \u2013 and this is the worst thing of all \u2013 it can feel a whole lot like going to church.

Way too many congregations convey the message, even if unintentionally, that a relationship with God is all about do\u2019s and don\u2019ts. The bottom line? You\u2019re doing it wrong<\/em>. And God\u2019s going to be mad at you unless you straighten up and fly right.

But Jesus did not come so we might follow the rules. He did not arrive with a bushel basket of additional commandments so we might have a lot more stuff to do.

\u201cI have come so that you might have life \u2013 real, lasting life \u2013 and have it abundantly\u201d (John 10:10).

It\u2019s all too easy for love to become legalism. What began as heartfelt respect for the American flag \u2013 even imagining this inanimate object to be a \u201cliving thing\u201d that represents the character and values of our nation \u2013 has gradually become a mind-numbing list of rules that, at least in some respects, compromises the simple joy of displaying our red, white, and blue banner.

The same thing can happen in our spiritual lives.

What begins as a love relationship with God, accompanied by myriads of joyful \u201cget-to\u2019s,\u201d can slowly degenerate into a burdensome truckload of \u201chave-to\u2019s.\u201d No wonder people walk away from church.

But it doesn\u2019t have to be this way.

One of the anecdotes associated with the Kennedy White House in the early 1960s \u2013 and perhaps it\u2019s just a story \u2013 concerns access to JFK in the Oval Office. Few people are ever empowered to walk past the Secret Service and drop in on the President of the United States.

But one of those who had that special privilege was \u201cJohn-John,\u201d the Kennedy\u2019s young son. \u201cMy Daddy owns this place,\u201d he is supposed to have said to one of the agents as he headed straight for his father\u2019s lap.

You can\u2019t do that unless you\u2019re family.

God says to each of us, \u201cYou\u2019re family. I would rather you come give me a hug than worry about breaking the rules.\u201d 

That\u2019s something to savor on this Independence Day, in which our flag reminds us to offer prayers of thanks that we can live in a free land.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here The United States Flag Code can be reduced to a single sentence: You\u2019re doing it wrong. It\u2019s a good bet that most of your fellow citizens, even on America\u2019s 248th birthday, aren\u2019t actually aware that such a code exists. Specifically, it\u2019s Chapter 1 of Title 4 of the United States Code,… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3795,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[761,461,762],"class_list":["post-3794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-american-flag","tag-fourth-of-july","tag-legalism"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3794"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3797,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3794\/revisions\/3797"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}