My husband and I have had an adventure in flag folding for his brother’s memorial. His brother was a veteran and was given a flag when he passed away. For his memorial we bought a display case for the flag. We thought it would be easy to fold the flag, but it turns out that there is a real art to doing it. We spent some time trying to work it out. We got close to getting it right, but out of reverence to his brother and our country, we felt we had to get it right. We found a video and watched instructions. Then we went back and tried again. It wasn’t perfect, but it was as close as we could get to perfection.
I know that no one is really going to pay very much attention to whether or not this flag is folded correctly, but that’s not the point. I am not doing it because I care about what other people think, I am doing it for myself, my brother-in-law, and my country. I don’t do things because they are important to other people; I do what I do because they are important to me.
The other day I went to a grocery store. When I parked one of my tires was touching the yellow line dividing the parking spaces. Usually no one cares about it, but for me, with OCD, it matters a lot. I tried to let it go, but I couldn’t. I got back into my car and repositioned it. I really didn’t care what anyone else thought about it. All I cared about was how I felt. I knew that if that tire stayed on the line my OCD sense of “wrongness” would rise and if I fixed it, I would feel better.
As I write, it might seem like a self-centered way to live. However, it really isn’t. I care about others and love my brothers and sisters in Christ. I just don’t want to create an appearance out of my life because I want to please other people. I am who I am and the only person I really want to please is God. I don’t care about the approval of anyone else.
That’s a difficult stance to take in the digital world of social media where so many are doing everything they can to get as many “likes” as they can. I don’t want to be liked. I just want to be me.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
