Man is a real mix of metaphors. I suppose I could read quotations for hours but there comes a time when we have to do more than read. It was Thomas Acquinas who said, "Why do you seek rest? You were only created to labor." The moniker I have dared use on this website is a dangerous stance for me because what I really want to do is make it obvious that there is more than sufficient material surrounding us every day that any serious seeker will not lack for something to do. It was Dag Hammarskjöld, in his book, "Markings" who wrote, "The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others." Most who write want their material to be read. But then, even people who do something well, like Vincent VanGogh, often die without knowing they were appreciated let alone famous or renown. To live an entire life and not be appreciated has to be a real downer. It has been said Vincent VanGogh, on a starry night, had one hand full of his paint brushes and in the other was a revolver which he used to kill himself. Even in death (or an attempt to end his life) he did not manifest enough confidence or ability to do the job right because it took him two days to die. Today, paintings by this man who "struggled for sanity" can only be bought by the very rich.

Dag Hammarskjöld left behind the manuscript for his book, "Markings", to be published after his death. In this book he gave the only true profile of himself. In the Foreword, W. H. Auden pointed out that the book constitutes only half a portrait. Perhaps the other half of Dag Hammarskjöld was seen in his life in service to his country of Sweden and the United Nations. "The outer image of this man persisted and heightened the sense of loneliness, the severity with which he marked his own spiritual conduct and measured the integrity of his soul, his conception of life as a summons, and his premonition of death." Upon the death of Abraham Lincoln someone noted that the only true way to measure a man or a tree was after it had fallen. Are you, am I living a life that we would dare have published and not be able to annotate this act or that act as to why we did or did not do something? Unfortunately most of us like to hear ourselves talk and are not very good listeners because while others talk we are trying to think of the next thing we want to say. "Goodness is something so simple: always to live for others, never to seek one’s own advantage." Yes, Dag Hammarskjöld, even in his self evaluation strove to live for others.

June 14 is Flag Day. In 1945, five Marines and a Navy corpsman planted Old Glory on Mount Suribachi, Iwo Jima. Admiral Chester Nimitz remarked of the Marines on Iwo Jima, "Uncommon valor was a common virtue." Those who honor their country by displaying the American flag recognize such valor and virtue. On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key watched the valiant defense of Fort McHenry by American forces and saw "the rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air" and wrote "the flag was still there!" and thus this 35-year-old poet-lawyer was inspired to write the poem which became our national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner."

In the sheer physical workings of war, who is shot first? The one carrying the flag and sometimes the drummer who did what he could to instill courage in others. Are we willing to just carry the flag or beat the drum or do we crave to be noticed or heard by what we want to say? "We cannot afford to forget any experience, not even the most painful." (Dag Hammarskjöld) If you are courageous enough to lay aside the ordinary, whenever there is a parade, try going, and watch how many regard the flag; unfortunately often the only one (really) standing is a veteran in a wheelchair saluting the flag.

THE WORDWRIGHT