LET FREEDOM RING
The flag at the A-frame chapel is gone. I don't know who took it down, or why. I just know that the world was a better place when it flew in the breeze over Island Park.
Fond memories of growing up here seem most intense this time of year. For me, there is nothing that brings it back to mind better than recalling Island Park family gatherings, patriotic celebrations, and going to church in the pines. From my earliest memories, the small log chapel was crowded and often we would sit outside on logs turned on end. The sun felt good as it chased the early morning chill away. The sacrament was passed inside and outside. Songs of worship filled the air and the pines. In a few years, the A-frame chapel was built. I was there. I can still see the workmen sitting at the top of those huge, heavy pine logs, as a crane slowly guided them into place. This is not the only A-frame chapel in this country, but the architecture and use of pine are unique. It's nearly old enough to qualify as a historic landmark — just like me.
Early on, a metal flagpole was placed outside of the south end of the chapel. An American flag was raised and visible through the long window above the podium, waving in the breeze during meetings. I do not recall stronger feelings for God and country than those I had while singing America the Beautiful, in the A-frame chapel, with my family, on the 4th of July weekend. It did not take long for me to recognize the blessings of peace and reflect on the price paid by others for the freedoms we enjoyed.
For most of my life, a prosperous America has been mostly united in the idea that it takes families, hard work, and integrity in order to enjoy the blessing of freedom. This year is different. An Orwellian cloud hangs over us, openly challenging and positioning to destroy America from within. I doubt that raising the flag in Island Park would help those who spend their days destroying families, those who have been conditioned to believe that they should be paid for not going to work, or those who do not respect authority and think that criminals ought not to be held accountable, or those who consistently blame others for mistakes of their making. From my perspective, this is the same anti-American crowd who thinks that it is better to distort or erase history, rather than learn from our past. These are people who kneel in protest when the national anthem is played, dishonor the flag when it is presented, and confuse skin color with character. This is a social experiment without precedence -- a plague attacking the very fabric of our nation.
For those of us who feel that honoring the flag is a privilege, we know that this great nation was not built on the corrupt principles leading so many Americans down the path to eroding freedom and evaporating prosperity. A return to family values, integrity, and hard work is needed at all levels to restore America, and it will not be easy -- nothing worthwhile ever is. Most of the astute readers of UPSTREAM IDAHO already know this.
Putting our nation's problems into reverse could start with something as simple as raising a flag to again wave in the breeze in Island Park. Let freedom ring.
Ever vigilant,
RT
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