God Bless America

It’s July 3rd as I begin to write this post, and that being the case, the playlist i selected to listen to on my iPod for my drive home from work tonight was my 4th of July playlist. Yes, i have one. On my iPod.  i'm a dork like that.

John Adams HBO title theme 

This is my single most favorite piece of soundtrack music ever composed and makes my heart swell with patriotism - and the hairs on the back of my neck stand up - every time i hear it.  

It is pure brilliance.

i tend to be admittedly cynical about this country of ours anymore. i can’t not see the plethora of things that i see that i personally don’t agree with going on in this country. i am but one person -and will be the first to admit that i am not perfect --who IS?-- but i do my best to do this daily walk conscientiously as i go; to be part of the solution versus part of the problem -which could most certainly fuel a blog entry all of it’s own.

i can’t help but wonder how much of a factor living in and having spent the majority of my life in Los Angeles-ish has been when it comes to how i feel.

Our national anthem: 

“Star Spangled Banner” 

originating from Francis Scott Key’s 1814 poem, “Defense of Fort McHenry”, was later set to music and declared our national anthem in 1931

Verse 4:
Blest with vict’ry and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
praise the pow’r that hath made and preserv’d us a nation!
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”


The overly-complicated simple truth about how i feel however, is that i am deeply saddened by what it seems we (America) have become. And i suppose that i should clarify that by “we”, i’m probably predominantly referring to those who have steered this country bringing us to exactly where we find ourselves as a nation.

No, it is not all “bad”; of course not. And i’m not so cynical that i can’t see or appreciate the good about this country of ours.

Yes, there is still “good” about America. Fraught with all that it is, overshadowing my throbbing feet from having been on them all day at work, the work that i do predominantly to secure health insurance, there must be a reason that i got tears in my eyes on the eve of July the 4th as i listened to patriotic music.

“America (My Country ‘Tis of Thee)”: Samuel F. Smith (1832)

My country, 'tis of Thee,
Sweet land of liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by Thy might
Great God, our King.

Our glorious land to-day,
'Neath education's sway,
Soars upward still.
Its hills of learning fair,
Whose bounties all may share,
behold them everywhere
On vale and hill!

Thy safeguard, liberty,
The school shall ever be,
Our nation's pride
No tyrant hand shall smite,
While with encircling might
All here are taught the right
With truth allied.

Beneath Heaven's gracious will
The stars of progress still
Our course do sway;
In unity sublime
To broader heights we climb,
Triumphant over time,
God speeds our way!

Grand birthright of our sires,
Our altars and our fires
Keep we still pure!
Our starry flag unfurled,
The hope of all the world,
In peace and light impearled,
God hold secure!


Maybe how i feel about America is reflected in what i experience at work every day: it’s a seemingly endless stream of faces -all-too-many, not so nice. A population in which kids more often say “thank you” than adults do.

America can be a strange place.  Nowadays.

And i wish that you could see yourselves.

And a few of you DO --and therein lies my hope in this nation. It lies in those of you who step up to the plate of we, the people alongside me versus worshipping at the altar of me, the people.

“Battle Hymn of the Republic”

(unbelievable, this video above -- it'll remind you we've no right to squander our lives nor take for granted the freedoms that so countless many lost their lives defending)

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored,
He has loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps
His day is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnish`d rows of steel,
"As ye deal with my contemnors, so with you my grace shall deal;"
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel
Since God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

He has sounded from the trumpet that shall never call retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on. 

This country was founded through a very thick, devoutly Christian lens, as reflected even in most every single one of our best-loved patriotic songs. And being that we Americans have enjoyed, if not taken for granted, life here in the most powerful nation of the current Modern age, i am convinced that this country gained it’s status as such because of it’s Christian-infused foundation.

Should this indeed be true, that would also make said country “enemy #1” to the opposition; the dark side. Our enemy is a fierce one that knows plenty well that

“If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

-- Mark 3:25

--which he appears to be using quite effectively against us.

“America the Beautiful” 

penned by Katherine Lee Bates, 1913

O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for pilgrim feet,
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

O beautiful for heroes proved In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine!

O Beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America! God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!

Yes, i wonder if our Founding Fathers are proud of what the country they so valiantly founded; investing in, even giving their very lives to, has become. But the America that is still beautiful is ...you; America the beautiful is, and really always has been, we, the people --and our national parks, of course. (wink)

As i rounded the crest, patriotic music streaming from my iPod along my drive home from work, i gasped, tears instantaneously filling my eyes, as the straight stretch of road before me opened to unveil a beautiful display of fireworks dead on before me. It was a rare, magical moment that took my breath away, if only for a second. (ha- thank God it wasn’t longer!)

As i wrap up this blog post, it is the 4th of July --and i guess that, in the end, what i wish for each of us as we continue our brief mortal lives individually and collectively as “we, the people” who form the nation, is that we honor and live mindful of those who came before who built this nation that people from all over the world continue to clammer to be part of even today.

Our Founding Fathers evidently did something very “right”.

My hope is that we honor their legacy and keep kindled the spirit upon which America was founded by following their lead to the best of our ability here and now. That is my prayer for “we, the people” of the United States of America on this 4th of July of 2013.

"Heal Our Land"

written by Orrin Hatch & Janice Perry

This is a newer versus "traditional" song that i love.

Heal our land Please grant us peace today And strengthen all who lack the faith to call on Thee each day Heal our land Please keep us safe and free Watch over all who understand the need for Liberty Heal our land Heal our land And guide us with thy hand Keep us ever on the path of Liberty Heal our land Heal our land And help us understand that we must put our trust in Thee If we would be free Protect us by the power of thy rod And keep us as one nation under God Heal our land Heal our land And guide us thy hand Keep us ever on the path of Liberty Heal our land Heal our land And help us understand That we must put our trust in Thee If we would be free

Finally, i end with the patriotic song i like best for it’s lyrics...

“God Bless America”

written by the incomparable Irving Berlin

God bless America,
land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains, to the prairies,
to the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
my home, sweet home.
God bless America,
my home, sweet home.

God bless America, indeed.