Patriotic Vision

When I first heard of being patriotic, I always associated it with the red, white, and blue of the United States of America flag. That's only because the U. S. is where I grew up, and it is what I learned about. However, when I looked patriotism up in the dictionary, it talked about one who enthusiastically guards their country. So I learned that patriotism and being patriotic can be associated with any country.

The kind of vision that I'm referring to here is in regards to having a mission or purpose; an idea of where you would like to be and why.

When Betsy Ross designed the first flag for the United States, it had thirteen stars and thirteen stripes, both to represent the thirteen colonies; they weren't called states yet. But the other message of this flag, was the vision of being united. The stars and stripes were used to show that each colony had a say; they were all equally important.

Many things that have ever been created began first with a desire or thought. Once that thought was fostered and nourished, then the people knew the action to take.

It is important to know where you'd like to go before you can know how to get there.

Part of any country's history is having some sort of vision. The United States began because people had a vision of not living under the church'es rule. Austrailia founded their sense of patriotism when prisioners where shipped from a far away land, and they decided to make things work.

Sometimes, I think with all the celebrations and memorials of our history, that we can get too caught up in what has been. I think it's time to change our focus a bit, and to think more about where we'd like to go.

With the patriotic flower design that I created, the thought came to me that it's a flower. It's suppose to blossom and grow.

So I would like to think that our country, your country, and any country can blossom and grow. Our countries can have new visions.

I would like to get away from the thought of having to guard or defend, and move more towards thoughts of countries being equally important.

2005 is the date of the acknowledgement I received from a poetry place that I had submitted it to. I had forgotten about it, and came across it when I was doing some cleaning. I did a couple of updates to it to better reflect my new knowledge and awareness. Here it is:

I see a World

I see a world where all people are healthy.

I see a world where smiles are abundant.

I see a world where greetings are spontaneous.

I see a world where everyone is a friend.

I see a world where everyone contributes with love.

I see a world where everyone receives with joy.

I see a world where there is plenty for everyone.

I see a world where everyone enjoys the gift of life.

I see a world where everyone is pleasant and calm.

I see a world where all heavenly passings are joyful.

I see a world where all are secure in the love of God.

copyright Cheryl Paton