I was listening to the radio one afternoon when CBC’s Vinyl Café came on. Stuart McLean decided to write his own “Pledge of Allegiance”, for all the children going to school in a couple of days. The podcast is linked here (choose “September 1st – Back to School”). Anyways, this is his pledge (transcribed by automated software, so the punctuation might mot be that great.)

Pledge of Allegiance – Stuart McLean

I pledge my allegiance to truth, under whatever flag it flies, for I know no one holds all truth. And I pledge my allegiance to kindness wherever I see it and understanding whenever it comes. I pledge my allegiance to sharing and hopefulness, and to speaking softly, and to love when I feel it, and to hope when I don’t. I pledge my allegiance to the children of the world. Boys and girls like me who are in this classroom, and who are far from here. Who are rich and who are poor and to all the schools here and not here and to the knowledge in the school libraries, and I pledge to follow the path of knowledge to the best of my abilities because with knowledge comes wisdom and with wisdom comes grace. I also pledge my allegiance to laughter because laughing makes people feel better. Finally I pledge my indivisible allegiance to recess. I pledge to play with a joyful and kind heart and I pledge to use my voice and not to hit because I know how I play is how I will live my life and I want to follow the path of peace and understanding and live softly on this good Earth.

So then I decided to write my own pledge. Here it is:

Pledge of Allegiance – Bill

I pledge my allegiance to protecting the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat, to allow my children, and their children, and all the generations to come to enjoy these resources. I pledge my allegiance to happiness, in any and all forms. To doing things we love, and loving the things we do. I pledge my allegiance to all of our differences. To all children and adults alike, no matter which air they breath, or which sea they see. I pledge my allegiance to security, I pledge to love and support the people around me in return for the same. I pledge my allegiance to teddy bears, to all the comforting hands in times of need. I pledge my allegiance to learning. Learning in and out of school. Learning how to live my life, learning how to succeed, learning wisdom of all kinds, for no one can know everything. I pledge my allegiance to freedom, to being able to do whatever whenever, to being able to be joyful. Finally, I pledge my indivisible allegiance to changing to world. To leaving a mark, to making our home, what we call Earth better than when I first set foot on it. I pledge to walk off this Earth knowing that I have helped this world and the people on this Earth become a little better.