For their 50th wedding anniversary, my war-veteran grandfather issued the challenge to all of his posterity that if we learned all 3 verses to 'The Star Spangled Banner' he would give us $50. Word-for-word. If we believed we knew it, he called us into his office and we'd recite it. If we didn't get a word right, we'd have to retry. I can proudly say I was part of the many who succeeded in the challenge. I have been fortunate to come from an educated family that values culture and history all over the world, but has always had a strong and reverent patriotism towards these United States of America.
On this Presidents Day, I am posting below the lyrics to America the Beautiful, which when we sang it at church yesterday, gave me shivers.
Like America, the prose is simply beautiful.
Really, I challenge you to read it and not feel patriotic.
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.
- O' beautiful, for pilgrim feet
- Whose stern, impassioned 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,
- 'Til 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!
4 footnotes:
love this song.
love blasting it on the organ at church more (newest calling. big surprise? no.)
love blasting PHANTOM even more....especially during open house volunteer hours.
u da bomb.
Chills. What a great post for today. And congrats on the memorizing. I hope you spent that $50 wisely.
i LOVE this song.
the third verse always makes me teary eyed.
That is so cute that your grandpa would care enough about this song to offer that challenge. I think it is a really good thing to seperate ourselves from all the bad things we hear in the media remember that we really do have a great and beutiful country. Thanks for the reminder.
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