The Sunday Sermonette – An Ode to America.

An Ode to the dear country I love! Thank you, Father God, for allowing me the privilege of living in it, when so many want to destroy it from without and within with words, actions, and deeds.

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – THE BEGINNING.

 My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, two hundred fifty years ago, beneath an anxious sky,

    A band of bold, imperfect souls dared lift their questions to Father God on high.

Enlightened dreamers, by ink and candlelight,

    Wrote an outrageous wager on the dignity of all that was right.

They wagered freeborn minds could think, could tinker, build, and dare,

    Could split the dark with lightning rods and thrust new towns upward into the air.

That liberty, once planted deep in mind, law, and heart,

    Could teach the hands of common men to work together, a new country to chart.

This bold band was not built of marble saints, untouched by weakness, pride, and sin.

    They bore the stains that we still bear, without and within;

Yet through their flaws a trumpet blew, a summons clear and tall:

    That liberty is Heaven’s wish that freedom and justice are meant for all.

My America is not exceptional because of its spotless name,

    Nor are its people born exempt from folly, greed, and blame.

But by a daring covenant that freedom’s lamp should shine,

    For every soul made equal by the loving hand of the Divine.

So, let us raise a hymn, but raise it low, with reverence in the sound,

    For our liberty is holy ground where humble knees are found.

And if we keep our covenant with justice, truth, and grace,

    May Father God preserve this precious land and shine upon her face.

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – EVIL’S YOKE.

My country ‘tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, when evil took the world to war,

     And cannons roared from shore to shore,

When Europe trembled, tired and torn,

     America’s resolve, then was born.

My country’s prodigious production might,

     Gave hope to all, during the war’s darkest night.

We sent ships, and planes, and tanks of rolling steel,

     A welcomed strength, the desperate world could feel.

From factory flame and shipyard din,

     From farms where long days would begin.

From rail and forge and foundry’s glow,

    A mighty industrial river began to flow.

 In World War One, through muddy trenches and driving rain,

     America helped break the Kaiser’s fearsome chain.

In World War Two, through smoke and flame,

     It brutally helped crush the Axis Powers, draping them with defeat and shame. 

Without America’s hand, though, without its grit and steel,

     Without its will that would not bend nor kneel,

Our allies’ rocky years of blood and pain,

     Might have ended with them bound forever by Evil’s yoke and chain.

And if the world should darken with evil still,

     May justice guide America’s strength and will.

May liberty’s bright banner stand tall and wave,

     Above the faithful and the home of the brave.

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – CIVIL WAR. 

My country, ’tis of thee, once split asunder by Civil War,

    Which shook our hearts and minds from rolling sea to sandy shore.

It devoured six hundred thousand brave men and boys,

    Who were deprived of a future, full of life and all its joys,

For a noble cause that rose beyond our losses,

    Beyond the graves, our tears, and beyond the crosses.

The Union was, at long last, saved, and enslaved people freed,

     Because a struggling young nation bound itself to a far nobler creed.

So let us sing, though solemnly,

    Of the war’s costly fight against slavedom and for liberty.

My country, ’tis of thee, may you forever be,

    A land where all may yet live in peace and forever be free.    

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – AMAZING INVENTIONS.

My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,

   Its inventors gave the world a new reality.

To hear through wires and see better at night,

    The world danced under their creative light.

Behold the lightbulb, a small, captured sun,

    The night’s ancient world forever overrun.

The world’s cities were no longer shackled to candlelight,

    But now, alive and glowing in the darkest night.

Then came voices through a copper thread,    

    Long bouts of silence were now, at last, long dead.

The telephone, with its crackling tone,

    Made people worldwide no longer feel lost or alone.

The transistor, that seemingly insignificant, tiny gate,

    Unlocked the world’s future, changing its destiny, none too late.

And from the transistor’s quiet, measured spark,

    The digital era arose, forever making its wondrous mark.

Now, dig your toes deep into North Carolina’s sand,

    Where two brother’s canvas wings obeyed their command.

And they left the burdened earth to be,

    The first to fly and escape its gravity,

Then deep within its hidden core,

    The atom was split, America’s secret was no more.

Its tremendous power, bright with promise cast,

    But forever shadowed by questions dark and vast.

Then on the moon, in ’69 for all to see,

    A boot left its footprint in the hallowed halls of history.

The moon’s powdery, gray dust, untouched and old,

   Gave America’s astronauts a fame both brave and bold.

May America’s inventors never die, and long may they endure,

    Our country’s greatness to always ensure.

And long may our dreamers see,

 A bright, endless future because of our precious liberty.

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – LITERATURE AND ART.

My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,

     Where writers and artists thrive in harmony,                                                                                                        

And amaze the world with paper, stone, and paint,

    Creating beauty without constraint. 

Longfellow wrote about Rever’s ride, the countryside to awaken,

     While Frost found truth in the road not taken.

Fitzgerald gave us Gatsby and Daisy’s haunting green light,

    While Faulkner rendered the southern past in misty, shadowy light.

Tennessee Williams set desire aflame,

    And Angelou taught caged birds their freedom to proclaim.

Warhol created wonder from a common can of soup,

     Rockwell painted American nostalgia with sentimental swoop.

Sargent’s brushes painted elegance, created deep within his heart,

     And Homer’s crashing seascapes were masterpieces of scenic landscape art.

So let our “Thanks” echo from shore to shore,

     May those visionary soul’s brushes and words enchant forevermore.

 As the ages roll, and time races by, may their creations ever be,                                                                                                    

     An inspiration for all the world to read and see.  

MY COUNTRY, ‘TIS OF THEE – HOLLYWOOD.

My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty,

    Where hopeful actors still long to be celluloid royalty, 

As they hitchhike West to that dream factory, Hollywood,

    Where movie gods and goddesses reign in make-believe brotherhood.

Flickering and shimmering in the dark, Tinsel-Town’s creations continue to inspire,

    Because it still creates the best pictures for all the world to admire.

From cotton fields to Scarlett’s courage, and Atlanta in burning flame,

    “Gone With The Wind” still whispers its majestic, immortal name.

“Frankenstein” awakens, showered with sparks and lightning in the sky,

    While “The Ten Commandments” lifted Father God’s laws on high.

“Citizen Kane” went searching for rosebud, through memory’s mystic rain,

    As “Camille” died in Armand’s loving arm with a smile, but thankfully no pain.

“Schindler’s List” bore witness to the Final Solution’s gut-wrenching hell,

    As “Saving Private Ryan” rang freedom’s solemn bell.

“Titanic” sailed with Jack and Rose, their quick sweet love still sings,

    As does Norma in her Sunset Boulevard mansion, tugging at our heartstrings.

With all its tarnished glamour, America’s Hollywood still gleams,

    Where “Lights! Camera! Action!” still create powerful, tantalizing dreams.

From its Golden Age in the 30s, to today’s movies, lustful and bold,

    Hollywood’s genius still shines like precious, glittering gold.

MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE – CHRISTIAN UNDERPINNINGS. 

My country, ’tis of thee we gratefully sing,

     That Christendom’s majestic bells still loudly ring.

Sweet land of liberty, bright and strong,

     We lift our hymns in grateful song.

Our democracy assures our worship, always faithful and free,

     To Father God we thank you, in reverence on bended knee. 

With humble voice and thankful hand,

     We seek Your grace and protection upon our land.

Let us not forget Your guiding flame,

     Your biblical truths our Forefathers framed.

With courage firm and conscience clear,

     They built with faith, not doubt or fear.

So may our blessed nation ever be,

     A home of hope, and peace, and dignity.

My country, ’tis of thee I pray,

     Keep liberty alive each day.

Ponder this and go forth.