Shelburne: How to honor a worn-out flag

How should we dispose of a worn-out American flag? For centuries the rule has been to burn it. But how can we do that with our modern fire regulations in place?

Green-society protocols have hugely increased the threat of wildfires, so burn bans are common now all across the land. After centuries of trash burning, today’s climatecontrol concerns and smoke phobias have resulted in laws that make this simple disposal method illegal.

So, if in this fireless era you have an old, tattered version of the stars and stripes, are you stuck with it?

Flags matter to me. Maybe because World War II was raging during my earliest years. I grew in the shadow of Pearl Harbor and Normandy. In ships and planes and trenches worldwide, my relatives and neighbors were risking their lives to defend our flag. I started every school day by pledging allegiance to it.

During the afternoon after our son Jon received his U.S. Marine officer bars, we stood with him beside the famous Iwo Jima flag monument. I still get chills on my spine whenever I see it.

As July 4 rolls around again, my heart hurts when I see younger citizens refusing to respect our nation’s banner. I realize that their parents were raised in the trash-America decades after the Vietnam war. They never have celebrated our nation’s independence as we did in the decades before them. And too many of them are ashamed to pledge allegiance to the flag that stands for their freedom to dishonor it. To a patriot like me, this is sad.

In this anti-fire age, we seem to have lost sight of the Bible’s positive take on fire. Yes, I know that Hell will consist of unquenchable fire. It can be a devilish thing. But from the first days on Earth, God commanded his creatures to light fires to burn offerings to him. He appeared to Moses as fire in an unburned bush. During the days of the Exodus, the divine Presence could be seen every night as a blaze of fire above the holy tabernacle tent. When the Christian age started on Pentecost and the Spirit fell on the apostles, tongues of fire rose above their heads.

On this Fourth of July, I hope you can unfurl your flag. But when it has outlived its day, know that the fire you use to cremate it will be the ultimate way to honor it.