The flag is not merely a piece of fabric dyed in pretty colors, as some people might lead you to believe. It is much more than that. It symbolizes virtues of the greatest country on earth: freedom, pride, victory. It symbolizes sacrifice in battle of those who went before us to secure the freedom of those yet to come. No simple piece of cloth can stir a person’s soul like the warm breeze of freedom emanating from its waving folds. The flag inspires us to appreciate the great and unselfish sacrifice of so many who expected and wanted so little in return. Such is the stuff that makes our country magnanimous.

There are enemies, foreign and domestic, who would like to see this starry flower of liberty wither and die. They would like to see the flag insulted, and tattered, and drooping. But our unconquerable will can never let that happen. Our flag, when elevated and whipping in the breeze, is formidable and invincible, nobly exhibiting its radiant stars and white and crimson stripes.

I suppose all these thoughts run through my mind as the flag unfurls at our local gym. It is not much to ask to place your hand over your heart in solemn tribute and homage to a red, white and blue symbol, a microcosm of a much larger body of space and time, encompassing the greatness of our country’s past, present and future. It is this transformation that makes it more than tangible; it is a transfiguration that transcends from the material to the spiritual, from the physical to the metaphysical that gives us all hope for better days to come.