America The Beautiful
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!
I read this first line of America The Beautiful and it got me to thinking about what it means in my life. I decided as I reflected on this iconic American song that I would allow myself the freedom (yes freedom) to feel patriotic. As my mind scurried down various paths I found myself suddenly at a crossroad. One direction was our current road of self indulgent, the world is falling apart, woe is me state of being. However I noticed that a right turn would place me Potential Avenue which seemed to be lined with beautiful mountain majesties above the fruited plains. Yes, one slight turn would put me on the path to patriotism in the land that I love. I could see clearly that I had a choice. I could ignore the greatness of the land that I love or I could turn and embrace it.
Once I made that right turn it became ever clear that God did indeed shed his grace on thee. I thought to myself, why in the world do I, and others, promote or proliferate agendas that rip at the heart of America. This awesome land in which I am so fortunate to live was founded on principals that work for all mankind. Thank God we have freedom to worship, freedom of speech, and most of all we have liberty and justice for all. We are one nation under God, which to me means that we learn to love, to live, to share, and to grow. We respect the human rights of everyone, even those that we think are different than we are.
And Crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. We are the land of brotherly love all across this great nation. From the shores of Delaware through the sands of New Mexico, to the rocky ocean beach of Oregon. We are one, sharing a land with many. Together our talents with God's grace makes America truly beautiful.
As we close out 2015 with a key eye forward to 2016 let us seek to find peace and unity in our great land. It is not possible to have that if our focus is on the things that divide us further. God shed his grace on thee (you and I) so that we could make America great by our example not by our opinion. Love will bring us together and our sparkle will once again illuminate this great land we call America.
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. Those spacious skies are filled with awe and beauty and those amber waves of grain bring us together at God's table to share brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
What is your portrait of America? Are your contributions lifting her up or tearing her down?
God bless
Dale
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!
I read this first line of America The Beautiful and it got me to thinking about what it means in my life. I decided as I reflected on this iconic American song that I would allow myself the freedom (yes freedom) to feel patriotic. As my mind scurried down various paths I found myself suddenly at a crossroad. One direction was our current road of self indulgent, the world is falling apart, woe is me state of being. However I noticed that a right turn would place me Potential Avenue which seemed to be lined with beautiful mountain majesties above the fruited plains. Yes, one slight turn would put me on the path to patriotism in the land that I love. I could see clearly that I had a choice. I could ignore the greatness of the land that I love or I could turn and embrace it.
Once I made that right turn it became ever clear that God did indeed shed his grace on thee. I thought to myself, why in the world do I, and others, promote or proliferate agendas that rip at the heart of America. This awesome land in which I am so fortunate to live was founded on principals that work for all mankind. Thank God we have freedom to worship, freedom of speech, and most of all we have liberty and justice for all. We are one nation under God, which to me means that we learn to love, to live, to share, and to grow. We respect the human rights of everyone, even those that we think are different than we are.
And Crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. We are the land of brotherly love all across this great nation. From the shores of Delaware through the sands of New Mexico, to the rocky ocean beach of Oregon. We are one, sharing a land with many. Together our talents with God's grace makes America truly beautiful.
As we close out 2015 with a key eye forward to 2016 let us seek to find peace and unity in our great land. It is not possible to have that if our focus is on the things that divide us further. God shed his grace on thee (you and I) so that we could make America great by our example not by our opinion. Love will bring us together and our sparkle will once again illuminate this great land we call America.
O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain. Those spacious skies are filled with awe and beauty and those amber waves of grain bring us together at God's table to share brotherhood from sea to shining sea.
What is your portrait of America? Are your contributions lifting her up or tearing her down?
God bless
Dale
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