Today’s Word from Pastor Jim…
“The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” Psalm 24:1
It was a high-tension playoff game; the season was on the line. My 8-year-old grandson had scored the tying run and now he was crouched behind home plate as the ball was laced toward shortstop allowing the winning run to cross the plate. His season was over, let Summer begin! I too played catcher in Little League baseball; my slightly older brother was a pitcher. In the Little League playoffs of 1971, we were one out away from victory when a batter named Steve (Steve is now the mayor back in Illinois) struck the ball into the outfield for a two-run home run, eliminating us from the postseason.
My father, Harold Lindus Jr., did not coach our team, but he was at every game. After the game we would often visit Sullivan’s Tavern to enjoy a post-game cheeseburger. Win or lose it was good to be with my dad. Most of the patrons were known to my father as he had lived in DeKalb his whole life. The bar resembled “Cheers,” and everyone knew my dad’s name. On occasion an older man would approach our booth greeting my father saying, “Boy nice to see you.” During the depression a young Harold Lindus worked as a water boy in the farm fields of DeKalb, Illinois. He offered some relief to the field workers who sweltered in the sun and humidity of an Illinois summer. My dad was 10 years old and happy to have work. His meager compensation would be some help to his sharecropper parents.
When the United States entered World War II my father was still in high school, playing football and dancing to the sound of big bands. After graduation he enlisted in the Navy and was soon off to the Pacific Theater. He was part of an occupying force on the island of Guam preparing for the invasion of Japan. He returned to DeKalb after the war. He would marry, have children, pay taxes, and work for 49 years before retiring at the age of 67. He would be dead two years later, laid to rest next to his parents in a cemetery just down the road from the fields where he worked as a water boy.
On that cold winter day in 1997 we gathered at his graveside, the preacher spoke some now forgotten words, and the scene fell silent as a Navy honor guard approached a flag draped casket. The flag was folded, taps rang out from a lone bugler, a young sailor kneeled and presented the triangular stars and stripes to my grieving mother. That flag has an honored place in my office; it took up residency with me when my mother left this world in 2011. The flag is mostly symbolic, but it has occasionally been called upon for veteran funerals at TLC, to once again be set free to its rectangular shape, refolded and again presented to a grieving family member.
Today is Flag Day. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. May we take time for reflection on this holiday weekend. May we give thanks as we are reminded of the many gifts that we have been given, reminded of the freedom that we enjoy, reminded of the people who have sacrificed for us and shaped our character. We should be mindful too, that flags and borders are human constructs. God’s creation has no flag. The soul has no nationality, no gender, no skin color. In the beginning and in the end, we are all the children of God. The flag has an honored position in my office, and my father an irreplaceable part in my life story, but I do not pledge allegiance to a flag and there is only One worthy of my worship.
One beggar, telling another beggar where to find bread, I am your,
Pastor Jim
PS: If you would like to respond directly to Pastor Jim, please email rvlindus@whidbey.com.
