I Love America

I’m ahead of Independence Day a few hours, but because I am so in love with my country, and because I appreciate living here so much, and because I so enjoy this video, I am posting now. Tears streaked my face as I listened to this magnificent music and gazed at the images of our countryside, the flag, the cities, the courage, the honesty of our sterling people.

Live well! Eat hot dogs! Love America! Love your family! Shoot Roman candles and light sparklers and bang firecrackers! Sing, shout, rejoice! It’s Independence Day…here…here in America, the greatest country on God’s earth!

Listen to speeches! Honor the military! Wave flags! Eat from red plates with blue spoons and white forks! Slurp red watermelon and white ice cream and blueberry pie! Barbecue in the back yard, drink lemonade and diet Coke and strong coffee in the evening! Watch a marching band at the village parade and cheer for the babies on tricycles and the old men in vintage cars! Clap when the firemen come by on the red truck and when the policeman struts along and when the mayor waves!

When THE FLAG passes by, stand up, remove hats, slap hands over hearts, and if you have the chance, sing loudly God Bless America or the Star Spangled Banner, or

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 mountainside,
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.

It’s Independence Day in the United States of America! Glad to be here! Glad you’ve joined me. Hope your holiday is tops–blessed and safe!

Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King

Image from Clattery Machine

I love America. My country is the finest, most generous in the world, and unabashedly, I say, I love America. Perfect? No. Has She made hideous mistakes? Yes. Is She yet my country? Yes.

When I was a youngster, still in grade school, I vividly recall reading a series of books that I learned later were called, The Great American Series. They were hardcover volumes, colored orange and green as I recall, with black and white illustrations on the inside pages. I devoured those books. As I thought of those this morning, two titles quickly came to mind: one was Jane Addams; the other was George Washington Carver. I recall that the beginning of his book told of George Washington Carver and his mother, already slaves on the Carver plantation, being stolen by slave traders. The book honestly records his pitiful life and yet glowingly speaks of his intelligence, his sweet disposition and his rising from those chains until he became one of America’s greatest educators and agricultural researchers.

There are ugly stains on our history, and certainly slavery is the most hideous. I love America. I love my country because we have seen mistakes that we made in the past, have grappled with our imperfection and are striving for perfection. Thank God, and thank our leaders, and thank the peoples of the United States of America, there is no longer slavery in my country.

Forty years ago today, a terrible thing occurred. Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. Dr. King, a scholarly man, fully in control of his emotions, was making significant strides toward resolving racial inequalities in America. I honor his work and his memory today by this post, and by a video of his memorable speech, I Have A Dream.