BY LARRY GRUMAN

Appeared in print: Saturday, June 11, 2011, page D4

In my high school days, I carried an American flag in the color guard of my marching band. I was impressed with the deference paid to the flag as I marched along the street. And I wondered about the thoughts of all those people who stood or took off their hats or placed their hand over their heart. Were they thinking “how wonderful we are” or “We are the land of the free” or “How many people have died for the Stars and Stripes?”

Tuesday is Flag Day. In America, we have saluted more than a dozen different flags since 1700. And since 1776, all of them have 13 stripes although the field of stars has undergone many changes. Whatever the configuration, a flag display in the streets or in parades or in lapel pins brings out a rush of strong emotion, a quickening of our heartbeats.

When the prophet Isaiah was searching for an image that would arouse intense enthusiasm, he found that a flag or an ensign served him best. He wrote that the Lord “shall set up an ensign for the nations” and the dispersed shall gather from the four corners of the earth, and former enemies shall not vex nor envy each other.

We salute our flag, display it with care, cover the coffins of our fallen military people with it, fly it at half-staff on solemn occasions of mourning, honor it at parades and sporting events. And in the hearts of many people, those observances express a loyalty that separates them from the rest of the world’s nations. And that is where the words of Isaiah have a telling effect.

That is because the prophet sees a larger picture, an image of the Lord lifting up a flag for “the nations” — that is, for all the nations. I believe this ensign is for humankind, not for one nation separate from the rest of the world.

In the same chapter, Isaiah foresees a time when “the wolf shall lie down with the lamb and the leopard with the kid; and they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain.” What a grand vision! I don’t think he saw his nation as a competitor with other countries but as a partner with all of them, honoring our common destiny, our mutual ownership of all the air and water and skies and earth — and our dependence on each other. That is because he sees the Earth as God’s holy mountain.

Last week I watched as a university official put a doctor’s hood on a graduate. She might have said that the honored person now has the “rights and privileges” that go with the degree. But she said, “I confer on you the rights and responsibilities of this degree.” That was a welcome revision of the more familiar phrase.

I hope that is what goes through people’s minds as they see the flag passing by: We are entrusted with the rights and responsibilities of our great nation as we live together in God’s holy mountain.

Larry Gruman is a member of Central Presbyterian Church and teaches courses in the Bible at several churches. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and the world. For more information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 541-344-0430.