Happy Birthday America!

Well, once again citizens of America have the opportunity to reflect and celebrate this great political experiment called the United States of America. And though she is a little banged up and threatened by enemies within and overseas, she still stands strong. What an amazing application of the Judeo/Christian worldview to the political and economic realms! Though we were not the first democratic government of course, our founders seemed to have learned the mistakes of our predecessors well. The result, as superior a form of government as can be created and maintained by flawed and imperfect mortals. It ain't always perfect but you should see the mess in other places! I don't want to get political on this day - but I do want to urge every American to take some time between the picnics and the fireworks to reflect on our nation and what it is supposed to stand for. Below is a quotation from a poem titled, "America, Why I Love Her" by John Mitchum. The great western actor John Wayne loved it and I think gave some commentary on it for the 1964 Republican National Convention that is quite stirring (see last couple of posts). Here is is - enjoy! And have a happy Fourth of July friend!

"America, America, God shed his grace on thee..."

You ask me Why I Lover Her? Well, give me time and I'll explain.
Have you see a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain?
Have you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way?
Have you watched a cold fog drifting over San Francisco Bay?

Have you heard a bobwhite calling in the Carolina pines,
Or heard the bellow of a diesel at the Appalachia mines?
Does the call of Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?
Do you look with awe and wonder at her Massachusetts shore,
Where men who braved a hard new world first stepped on Plymounth's rock?
And do you think of them when you stroll along a new York City dock?

Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies, way up high?
Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?
Do you hail to the Columbia as she rushes to the sea,
Or bow your head at Gettysburg at our struggle to be free?

Have you seen the mighty Tetons? Have you watched an eagle soar?
Have you see the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?
Have you felt a chill at Michigan when on a winter's day
Her waters rage along the shore in thunderous display?
Does the word "Aloha" make you warm? Do you stare in disbelief
When you see the surf come roaring in at Waimea Reef?

From Alaska's cold to the Everglades, from the Rio Grande to Maine,
My heart cries out, my pulse runs fast at the might of her domain.
You ask me Why I Love Her? I've a million reasons why:
My Beautiful America, beneath God's wide, wide sky.

"And crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."