America the Beautiful

One thing we've learned living outside of the country is that no matter how bad the problems are, or how difficult life has become in the United States, America is still preferable to anywhere else. The United States of America is home.

We are in transit to the States, and this year in particular I wanted to be home in time for July 4th to give our adopted daughter, Hannah, a taste of American patriotism, and an idea of what America is all about. But my wife came down ill in the Philippines, and we've been unable to travel for the last two weeks. Now the fourth is upon us and we're going to miss it.

Ronald Reagan said in his last message to America that he knew there would always be "a bright new dawn ahead." President Reagan could say that and mean it because he believed in American exceptionalism. We hear this term bantered around a lot lately, mostly because the current occupant of the White House basically announced to the world that he doesn't believe in it. How sad and pathetic that America could elect a man to the most important position in the world who doesn't have a clue about America's history, where we came from, or what we're about.

American exceptionalism is at the very heart of American life. Her greatness is found in the greatest military bar none on earth. Her greatness is found in her invention, industry and technology. It is found in her luxury of living. Her greatness is found in her biblical roots. It cries out in her natural resources and resounding beauty. It is found in her literature and music, in such great patriotic hymns as America the Beautiful.

This hymn is exceptional because it outlines our history and gives meaning to our existence. The first verse extols the wonder of the land and prays for God's blessing. The second verse examines the pilgrims who settled the wilderness with the ingredients for true freedom; self-control under the rule of law. The third verse honors the heroes who have given their lives for our freedom, and the last verse looks to a bright future of alabaster cities and reminds us that it is only made possible by the grace of God.

We used to learn this song in our public schools. Our children need to learn it now, need to take it apart and study our history from the viewpoint of the composer, Katherine Lee Bates. Consider the first verse:

Oh beautiful for spacious skies.

If you've never driven across Montana you'll never understand why it's called the "Big Sky State." There, more than anywhere, the sky just seems to go on forever. It pictures America's influence projected by our presence in nearly every nation on earth, a hundred fifty of which are under the spacious umbrella of American foreign aid.

For amber waves of grain.

Have you crossed what was once called the "Great American Desert?" Now interlaced with well maintained super highways, the desert has become America's "breadbasket."

For purple mountain majesties.

The Appalachians in the east offer a forested blanket of green that turns colors in the fall with breathtaking magnificence, but the purple majesties are found in the Rocky Mountain west, high above timberline where, on a clear day against a bright blue sky the peaks take on a purple hue. Colorado provides the highest paved road in America up to the peak of Mt. Evans, 14,256 feet high, and a view that is on top of the world.

Above the fruited plain.

Millions of teeming acres of wheat covering Kansas, and millions more of corn in Nebraska and Iowa fill grain reserves that feed the world.

America, America.

It is a name that should not be spoken lightly or in derision. It is a place of belonging and comfort, a place that has opened its arms to the tired and poor yearning to be free. It is a place that deserves our highest regard and respect, because it is our place. It is our home.

God shed His grace on thee.

This is as much a statement as it is a prayer. The hymn writer is asking God to give His grace to the nation, and well we should continue to pray that prayer, but the fact is, God already has shed His grace on America like no other nation in history. The United States didn't rise to the top of the heap of nations by being ungodly or mediocre. God gave America His grace because Americans honored God with their faith. Jefferson trembled for his country when he considered that "God is just and that His justice will not sleep forever." We have had the blessings of God in America, but how long will those blessings continue when the nation continues to deny the God that gave them?

And crown thy good with brotherhood.

The French historian, Alexis de Tocqueville, stated that "America is great because America is good," and its goodness came from its churches that preached righteousness all across the land.

The reference to brotherhood speaks of the assimilation of immigrants who came to the United States to become Americans. Our strength was not in our diversity, but in our unity as people from all around the world joined us. This is a far cry from the illegal alien invasion of today, and even those who come legally, but only to live off the land and promote their own cultures within our borders without any intent of becoming American. If you don't want to be an American, find a better place to live and go there.

From sea to shining sea.

Our nation's borders stretch from one ocean to another. The story of the expansion to include the continental forty-eight and then Alaska and Hawaii is the story of America and how it became great.

American exceptionalism is not being taught in the public schools anymore. Even the Pledge of Allegiance is challenged by the ACLU and other liberal groups. It is time on this July 4th that we remember who we are and where we came from.

We are Americans. Our heritage is Christian. Our greatness comes from the God of our Fathers, the Christian God, who has shed His grace on us. We are a nation under God. If we ever forget that, we will, in the words of Ronald Reagan, "be a nation gone under.

Let's celebrate America the Beautiful. Happy Fourth of July.