The Cost of Freedom

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America, American history, application, compassion, First Responders, freedom, military personel, patriotism, sacrifice

During the last several years, I have been increasingly embarrassed by the number of Americans who have sold out to the well-intentioned but misguided concept of COMPASSION. It is an age-old deception passed down through the generations that says if we are to be kind, we must be willing to compromise our standards. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, true compassion, the self-sacrificing noble compassion can only be rooted in solid, absolute but merciful moral code.

COMPASSION: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

The question is, what is the best way to alleviate the suffering or hardship of others. Pain and suffering are part of life, and not necessarily the worst part. Though no one desires pain and hardship, many people around the world manage to endure it with joy, or at least acceptance knowing that good always follows pain … eventually.

It saddens me that in today’s America, we seem to have forgotten the benefits of struggle, or working toward a goal, of fighting through disease, of sacrificing for the good of others. This is the essence of compassion.

Instead, we have opted for the shortcuts. Problem is, “No pain – no gain” is completely accurate! We are left with a nation of Americans who have no idea what it cost to build America into a nation where, at least before the current administration, people of all races, religions, and backgrounds could live together in relative harmony. We are no longer taught of the price the Founding Fathers paid for their rebellion against the status quo. Of course, humans are imperfect, and today’s educators and political liberals choose to focus on their imperfections rather than the enormous gifts they gave and the heavy costs they paid.

Today is July 4, 2015. For any who are not aware, July Fourth in the U.S., is a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress declaring that the thirteen American colonies regarded themselves as a new nation, the United States of America, and no longer part of the British Empire. During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule.

Now, there are many whose lives reflect the same selfless sacrifice in service to others. Recently, police have come under irrational scrutiny because of some ideologues political agenda. Of course, there are imperfections and abuses. As long as they are human, that will be the case. But we dare not overlook the tremendous personal sacrifices made by our first responders and military service members (and families.)

As we celebrate this weekend, I pray we remember … the tremendous cost of freedom that allows us the many choices we have, and it is my prayer that we will work to overcome evil with good…each of us…one kindness at a time!

Father God, many in our nation have turned away from You, but you know each one and love us still. Father God, please turn our hearts back to You in gratitude for all You have provided. Heal the divides between neighbors. Restore our yearning for self-reliance with You as our Source and our Guide … for the sake of the lost people of the world.

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The Spirit of “Paul Revere’s Ride”

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courage, education, globalists, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, leadership, lofty ideals, obama, patriotism, Paul Revere's Ride, personal sacrifice, work

In third grade, I was required to memorize and recite the first three stanzas of this epic poem classic. (Do schools ever do this any more?) It was the spark that ignited my fascination with the search for the New World, the great experiment known as AMERICA.

The spirit of Paul Revere’s Ride goes beyond the poetic perfection of the rhyme and meter achieved by Longfellow, even beyond the historical relevance, to the heart of one man, a Patriot, sometimes referred to as “any-man.”

America, too, is much more than her geographical dimensions, her conglomerate of peoples and tribes and nations all mixed together into One People. America is even more than her founding documents: the Declaration of Independence and Constitution of the United States of America.

America is an idea. It is BIG and BOLD. It is unique in the world. It is INDEPENDENCE – depending on no one else for anything, and she promotes independence in her people and around the world. It is pride, but not arrogance. It is generosity, but not manipulation. It is compassion, but not lawlessness. It is unique in ideal because it seeks “equality” for all, under the law. It is contrary to human nature, but still possible, if we are willing to WORK for it, willing to sacrifice for it, willing to swim against the stream for it. It’s easy to be mediocre, middle of the stream, average. Not so easy to be the best, the strongest, the leader because leaders are RESPONSIBLE for & to those they wish to lead.

“My legacy will be an America brought down to the level of the rest of the world.”
~ Barack Obama ~

Why the Globalists Selected Obama to be President

I wish “Paul Revere’s Ride” was required reading, not only for third graders, but for each and every adult citizen of this nation. Please read it … aloud, if possible, and let it stir your heart, your love for the IDEA of AMERICA. And then, share that Spirit … the spirit that says we can be AMERICA again. We can be strong, but compassionate, A NATION OF LAWS, and not men. We can be innovative, yet controlled. We can rein in our spending as a government and reduce the waste and overlap of offices. We can return to the perimeters of the Constitution, if we are willing to count the cost of NOT doing so.

Surely, if evolution is fact, then shouldn’t the human race be bettering itself instead of seeking mediocrity and the lowest common denominator?

Read … and share!

The Landlord’s Tale. Paul Revere’s Ride

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in ‘Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.

He said to his friend, “If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light, —
One, if by land, and two, if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm.”

Then he said, “Good night!” and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.

Meanwhile, his friend, through alley and street,
Wanders and watches with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.

Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry-chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade, —
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town,
And the moonlight flowing over all.

Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night-encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel’s tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, “All is well!”
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay, —
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide, like a bridge of boats.

Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride,
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse’s side,
Now gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle-girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry-tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! As he looks, on the belfry’s height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns!

A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet:
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.

He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders, that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.

It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer’s dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.

It was one by the village clock
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.

It was two by the village clock
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadows brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket-ball.

You know the rest. In the books you have read,
How the British Regulars fired and fled, —
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farm-yard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm, —
A cry of defiance and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo forevermore!
For borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Click HERE to jump to amazon to buy a copy for your shelf or for your children or grandchildren!

Celebrate American Freedom!

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"life lessons", 4th of July Celebration, American, American history, Celebrate America, Committment, Independence Day, July 4th, Know America's History, patriotism, Patriots Unite

The Star-Spangled Banner

“In 1807, Britain introduced a series of trade restrictions to impede on-going American trade with France, with which Britain was at war. The U.S. contested these restrictions as illegal under international law. The British did not wish to allow the Americans to trade with France, regardless of their theoretical right as neutrals to do so.”(Wikipedia) The tensions increased and the wealthy politicians in Britain exercised their influence and put pressure on the America to bow to their wishes. An unstated but powerful motivation for the Americans was the desire to uphold their newly won national honor in the face of what they considered to be British tests and insults.

It is this war “whereby the fledging, in-fighting, unprepared baby United States cemented its status as an independent nation by defeating the most powerful military power in the western world. The final battle waged in Baltimore, Maryland, was the one celebrated in Francis Scott Key’s famous poem, which was made into our national anthem: “Star Spangled Banner”. READ MORE

The Battle for Ft McHenry

The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire, including those of present-day Canada.[nb 2] The Americans declared war in 1812 for a number of reasons, including a desire for expansion into the Northwest Territory, trade restrictions because of Britain’s ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant sailors into the Royal Navy, British support of American Indian tribes against American expansion, and the humiliation of American honour. Until 1814, the British Empire adopted a defensive strategy, repelling multiple American invasions of the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada. However, the Americans gained control over Lake Erie in 1813, seized parts of western Ontario, and destroyed Tecumseh’s dream of an Indian confederacy. In the Southwest General Andrew Jackson humbled the Creek nation at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend but with the defeat of Napoleon in 1814, the British adopted a more aggressive strategy, sending in three large armies along with more patrols. British victory at the Battle of Bladensburg in August 1814 allowed the British to capture and burn Washington, D.C. American victories in September 1814 and January 1815 repulsed British invasions of New York, Baltimore and New Orleans.” CONTINUE READING

Scribbled lyrics by the inspired F.S.Key

“During the rainy night, Key had witnessed the bombardment and observed that the fort’s smaller “storm flag” continued to fly, but once the shell and Congreve rocket barrage had stopped, he would not know how the battle had turned out until dawn. By then, the storm flag had been lowered and the larger flag had been raised.

During the bombardment, HMS Erebus provided the “rockets red glare”. HMS Meteor provided at least some of the “bombs bursting in air”.

Key was inspired by the American victory and the sight of the large American flag flying triumphantly above the fort. This flag, with fifteen stars and fifteen stripes, came to be known as the Star Spangled Banner Flag and is today on display in the National Museum of American History, a treasure of the Smithsonian Institution. It was restored in 1914 by Amelia Fowler, and again in 1998 as part of an ongoing conservation program.
Aboard the ship the next day, Key wrote a poem on the back of a letter he had kept in his pocket. At twilight on September 16, he and Skinner were released in Baltimore. He completed the poem at the Indian Queen Hotel, where he was staying, and entitled it “Defence of Fort McHenry.” (Wikipedia)

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was written in a time of great national crisis. The Capital of the United States had fallen to the enemy. Its most important Federal buildings were charred ruins in the wake of the British occupation. There seemed to be nothing separating Britain’s vaunted military power from complete victory, except the small bodies of scattered and disorganized militia. American morale was at a low ebb. It required a bold man at that time to prophesy the spiritual rebirth of the American Nation as Francis Scott Key did in “The Star-Spangled Banner.” CONTINUE READING

The Star Spangled Banner Lyrics

By Francis Scott Key 1814

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
‘Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

We still enjoy more liberty than any other nation, but that arguably has begun to change. The Stars and Stripes still wave over this land, but are Americans still “the brave?” Do we have the courage to maintain our liberty?

This week, we have witnessed Egyptian people rising to the occasion and overthrowing the undesirable government we President Obama helped to install. They are fighting for their FREEDOM! Their courage is evident. Regardless how it turns out, I am impressed with their resolve. They want FREEDOM! Do we even realize our freedoms are being slid under the proverbial rug to disappear in time?

The Issue Of Sovereignty (via Samuel at Gilgal)

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alexander-hamilton, barackobama, border security, constitution, Founding Fathers, freedom, George Washington, government, history, Independence, national-defense, patriotism, politics, sovereignty, terrorism, Texas, united-state, united-states-constitution

Quoting Steven Groves: The United States is a sovereign nation. Sovereignty is a simple idea: the United States is an independent nation, governed by the American people, that controls its own affairs. The American people adopted the Constitution and created the government. They elect their representatives and make their own laws. The Founding Fathers understood that if America does not have sovereignty, it does not have independence. If a foreig … Read More

via Samuel at Gilgal

Noah Webster On The Basis Of Our Civil Constitutions (via Samuel at Gilgal)

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Bible, Christianity, Connecticut, constitution, culture, economy, education, educators, evil, famous-nutmeggers, God, history, justice, merriam-webster, noah-webster, patriotism, philosophy, precept, theology, United States, worldview

For instruction then in social, religious and civil duties resort to the scriptures for the best precepts.

Quoting Noah Webster (Founding Educator): The most perfect maxims and examples for regulating your social conduct and domestic economy, as well as the best rules of morality and religion, are to be found in the Bible. . . . The moral principles and precepts found in the scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws. These p … Read More

via Samuel at Gilgal

If You Need a Good Laugh… | Military.com

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"life lessons", American, American Interests, appreciation, Blog, boredom, character, character training, choices, Conservative opinion, Democrat, empathy, fear, freedom, fun, God, hilarious, Hope * Change, Human nature, Human Rights, Military appreciation, military service, morality, neighbors, order, patriotism, pleasure, spiritual, USA, Women's Issues

Though I’ve seen this before, it is always a pleasure!

 

Taking Time to Salute the Heroic 1 Percent

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"life lessons", Afghanistan, America, character training, Germany, gratitude, honor, Human nature, Iraq, Military appreciation, patriotism, patriots, respect, spiritual, WE THE PEOPLE

I talked to my daughter yesterday. She is active duty Army. She asked if I had heard about the 3 MPs killed in the line of duty in Afghanistan. They were from her current unit. The names had not been released yet.

Three US MPs based in Hohenfels, Germany killed in Afghanistan

Three U.S. soldiers died July 5, 2011, in Paktia province, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked their unit with an improvised explosive device.

They were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan fighting the Global War on Terror.

The soldiers were assigned to the 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, 21st Theater Sustainment Command, Hohenfels, Germany.

Killed were:

Staff Sgt. Joshua A. Throckmorton, 28, of Battle Creek Michigan;

Spc. Jordan C. Schumann, 24, Port Saint Lucie, Florida; and

Spc. Preston J. Suter, 22, Sandy, Utah.

Politics, in general, is about ideas and ideals. It’s PEOPLE that make up our great nation. Those who dare to serve in uniform, from our local First Responders (police, fire, EMT, etc) to the Border Patrol to the US Military, are our unsung heroes. Their stories are untold and easily forgotten among the really important stories, like the “Casey Anthony” trial that command our attention.

Taking time to salute the 1 percent

“After nearly a decade of war, it’s easy to become numb to it.

“You read the newspaper, you watch the television and it just keeps coming, one day after another until it all runs together. You mourn the dead and you celebrate the victories, but you can’t allow yourself to feel too deeply or it becomes too much. If you’re one of the 99 percent of Americans not actively fighting this country’s battles, war is difficult to understand.

“But we must try. We owe it to the 1 percent.

“For them, it’s not complicated. It’s not about surges and drawdowns and Capitol Hill bickering. For the men and women who will lace up their boots in Afghanistan or Iraq today, their only goal is to complete the mission and lie down to sleep at night one day closer to coming home.” Each of these young men are REAL people, REAL Americans. They have families and loved ones, they have flaws, but they are heroes.

WOUNDED WARRIOR Softball Team

Watch the video!

The quiet heroism of America’s secret warriors

Were they heroes? Or were they fulfilling their job descriptions?

“We know the bare outline of the May raid: Some of the United States’ best sailors and soldiers entered Pakistan undetected, slipping through the darkness in secret stealth helicopters across 100 miles of potentially hostile territory. They continued the mission despite losing a helicopter and dispatched the target — elusive al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Then they scooped up a wealth of intelligence materials and disappeared.

“Although there’s plenty the public may never know about the operation, the details that have leaked out have been breathtaking, providing a rare glimpse into the ultra-secretive world of the U.S. military’s most elite troops.” CONTINUE READING

A Reason to Fight

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"life lessons", armed forces, character training, destiny, duty, equality, freedom, history, Human nature, individuality, military, Military appreciation, patriotism, patriots, responsibility, spiritual, strength

Preamble

Congress OF THE United States
begun and held at the City of New York, on Wednesday
the Fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best insure the beneficent ends of its institution.

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as Amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.:

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

A Reason to Fight

Dear President Obama,

“We The People” have stated resolutely we reject your vision for our country. You claim you have not heard us.

“We The People” have assembled across America resisting your efforts to subvert our constitution and undermine our liberty. You claim you have not seen us.

Since you have not acknowledged our message, let us here present it once more for if as President Wilson said, “a leader’s ear must ring with the voices of the people,” the time has come.

Our greatest treasure is freedom – the absence of restraints on our ability to think and to act. The corollary of freedom is individual responsibility. We believe in the power of the individual.

A few years ago President Bush said, “History moves toward freedom because the desire for freedom is written in every human heart.” Let us add that we will preserve it only as long as devotion to freedom is expressed in the heart of our actions.

When President Lincoln dedicated Gettysburg National Cemetery he declared, “It is for us the living to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus so nobly advanced.”

That unfinished cause for which our soldiers willingly go to battle and for which so many have given their lives is a free United States of America. It has been nearly one hundred fifty years and the work President Lincoln spoke of is not finished. In fact, that work will never be finished.

Freedom is the capacity of self-determination. It is not an entity but a condition and conditions change. Freedom can expand, yet so can it contract.
You promised change when you took office, Mr. President, but subjugation is not change we wanted or will accept.

You have expanded government, violated our Constitution, confounded laws, seized private industry, destroyed jobs, perverted our economy, curtailed free speech, corrupted our currency, weakened our national security, and endangered our sovereignty.

By compromising our nation’s cultural, legal and economic institutions, you are ensuring that our children will never achieve the same quality of life as we enjoy today. Through generational theft you are robbing the unborn of opportunity.

This is not acceptable. Not in America. We did not become a strong nation through hope but rather through self-reliance.

No one better understands the relationship between individual achievement, dignity and strength than our armed forces. Through every war our soldiers have held this nation’s destiny in their hands. They have not failed us. They cherish freedom enough that they are willing to die for it.

Our duty to them and to ourselves is to treasure freedom enough to live up to it.
We accept the challenge, Mr. President. That is why we are assembling across the land to deliver our message to you as often and in every way we can. Dismiss us at your political peril.

Our great nation is a Republic. We will not accept tyranny under any guise. Your policy to redistribute the fruits of our labor is Statism and will not be tolerated.

By our honor, Mr. President, we vow forever to resist coercive government in America. Patriots will not stand silent as you attempt to dismantle the greatest nation on earth. “We The People” will defend our liberty. We will protect our beloved country and America’s exceptionalism will prevail.

God Bless the United States of America!

Sincerely,

We The People

WE THE PEOPLE have a treasure worth defending. That is why we have an all-volunteer military. There are those who recognize the value of FREEDOM and have counted the cost, and are willing to sacrifice their own lives in the preservation of our Nation and her FREEDOMS. For generations, the comforts have home have lulled us into complacency while others by design or by default have stolen some of these freedoms. It is my prayer and my fervent hope that the revelations of the last 2 years have begun to awaken the complacent, sleeping Giant and that her people will unite under the banner of Honesty and reality in Government so the issues that threaten further freedoms can be dispelled vehemently and resolutely. To this end, WE THE PEOPLE embrace the US CONSTITUTION. A document, an ideal, a reason to fight!

Mr. President, We the People have not yet begun to fight

Thanks to VOTINGAMERICAN for the transcript for the “WE THE PEOPLE” video!

Inspiration Monday XVIII

Submitted, though late, I think, for Inspiration Monday XVIII to bekindrewrite

GOD Bless America, Land that I Love …

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America, Americans, blessings, choices, citizens, freedom, God, gratitude, history, individuality, Kate Smith, nationalism, patriotism, Spirit, spiritual, USA, WE THE PEOPLE

United We Stand; Divided We Fall

“The United States Senators sang it on the steps of the Capitol that fateful day, September 11, 2001, another “day that will live in infamy.” It was sung at the reopening of the stock market the following Monday, and Canadian soprano Celine Dion sang it at the two-hour fundraiser “America: A Tribute to Heroes” on September 21. The song was God Bless America, and on NBC’s Saturday Today show, after mentioning the national anthem and Willie Nelson’s rendition of America the Beautiful, it was reported that Ms. Dion sang “the song that galvanized the American spirit.””
(The American Spirit)
God Bless America “was written during the First World War, for an army camp show where Berlin was stationed: Camp Yaphank on Long Island. The show’s producers rejected it as too jingoistic, so Berlin placed it in a trunk of rejected manuscripts.

There it lay for twenty years, until Ted Collins, manager of popular singer Kate Smith, approached Irving Berlin for a new patriotic song for Kate to introduce to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Armistice that ended World War I.” Continue reading …

In 1938, with the rise of Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish and a first-generation European immigrant, felt it was time to revive it as a “peace song”, and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938 sung by Kate Smith, on her radio show. Berlin had made some minor changes; by this time, “to the right” might have been considered a call to the political right, so he substituted “through the night” instead. He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used: “While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.” (wikipedia)

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.

Whilst the last members were signing [the Constitution], Doctor Franklin, looking towards the Presidents chair, at the back of which a rising sun happened to be painted, observed to a few members near him, that painters had found it difficult to distinguish in their art, a rising, from a setting, sun. I have, said he, often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that behind the President, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting; but now at length, I have the happiness to know, that it is a rising, and not a setting sun. – Dr. Benjamin Franklin, September 17, 1787. What do YOU say? Is the sun rising or setting?

Let that same Spirit rise within each American citizen, a Spirit of gratitude to all who have gone before that helped define AMERICA as our HOME. May our love for our nation, and the Light she represents to other nations, rekindle in us as we regain appreciation for our remaining FREEDOMS and work to restore what has been stolen through our own greed and selfishness. May the Spirit that unites us in times of catastrophe, unite us NOW and in the days to come as we stand together against the tide of mediocrity and sameness that would disarm our individuality ~ the capstone of our FREEDOM! God, let it be so!

“I am an “American”
free to speak without fear,
free to worship in my own way,
free to stand for what I think right,
free to oppose what I believe wrong,
or free to choose those who shall govern my country.
This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold.”

Read further:

God Bless America and Kate Smith

Pledging allegiance to a new flag in ‘Citizen U.S.A.’

We are The American People

What would the Founding Fathers think of US now?

10 America-Themed Songs for the Fourth of July

In Celebration of Flag Day – June 14th

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America, character training, Flag Day, God, honor, military, nationalism, patriotism, respect, service members, USA

Tuesday is Flag Day in the United States of America.

The Pledge of Allegiance

I Pledge Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands,
one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

A few interesting things about our Flag. “On June 14, 1777, in order to establish an official flag for the new nation, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act: “Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.” Subsequently, it took three executive orders to establish and confirm the dimensions and proportions for our Flag today. LEARN MORE

The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America’s birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as ‘Flag Birthday’. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as ‘Flag Birthday’, or ‘Flag Day‘.

Wave Your American Flag Proudly!!!

America is unique in that her beginnings were noble. The early pioneers, pilgrims, puritans, and dreamers sought a land of freedom. Even among themselves, there was not complete agreement about if or how to form a local government. But they were intelligent enough to understand that together, finding the common ground and building on that. From there, our nation grew and flourished, I believe, because of in inherent willingness to share, to give of whatever we had to those with less. The first settlers from Europe understood hardship and from their own affliction learned compassion … along with some fear.

The stories of the first encounters with Native Americans are mixed. Some were heroic and honorable, some were not. While there are many things in our history for which we can be ashamed, there are many more acts of kindness and compassion. In my opinion, this compassion has been in past times, a driving force, an underlying current that kept us moving in a good and worthy direction. There are times in our history we forgot our compassion only to be reminded by some cruel and harsh reality. In America, I don’t know one way or another about other places, as my personal experience in other nations is limited, but in America, it has often been true that hard times bring out the best in us.

Look around. Do you see neighbors in need? If you are able to help, consider it. If you cannot, perhaps you might pray. Care. On this Flag Day, care …

We really can’t depend on the government. But together WE THE PEOPLE can re-build Joplin, Tuscaloosa, and America!

We must honor those who serve in uniform here and abroad, and remember that they sacrifice friends and family at the very least to protect the interests of the United States. Visiting Europe may not seem so severe, but living there for a year or more … well … it’s not HOME! THANK YOU, Service Members wherever you are!!!! Keep safe!!!!!

GOD, please continue to bless our GREAT nation, and flood her with your MERCY!