America
the Beautiful
Published in Marietta (GA) Daily Journal, 7/15/18
When
America was discovered with forests so replete, old William Bradford and others
with the Indians did meet. Of course
they weren’t really Indians, we later on did learn. We called them that because Columbus’ ship
had made an erroneous turn.
It
was Christopher C. who started it all in 1492, but a hundred and fifteen years
would pass before the first colony grew. But anyhow when Pilgrims came,
departing their native land, awaiting them were snakes and bears and the
elements on every hand. Conditions grave
deterred them not, though disease and death did reign. To achieve their goal of freedom, they gladly
endured the pain. Thousands more from
the Old World came to escape a duke or a king, and the price they paid could
not compare to the sound of freedom’s ring.
Dismiss
if you must the hand of God in preparing a place for the free, but Washington,
Adams, and Madison, too, would strongly disagree. “Man was not made for chains,” they said, as they
mapped out a new way of life, and their document done, they sang in the sun
that freedom would now be rife.
Inconsistent
were they and evil too, to place black men in chains, but who but those who
dwell in the past would say that slavery still reigns? Good will? I see it daily twixt Americans of
every bent. Let’s all remember we twice
elected a young, black president.
Our
family feud was sorrowful, where brother against brother did fight. The thousands slain, the enmity that reigned
created a four-year night. But Mr. Lincoln’s
steadfast honor was clear for all to see, and it was matched, as we all know,
by the character of Robert E. Lee. So
tear Lee down, and Stone Mountain, too, you cultural cleansers all, but when
you do, the healing we need, your actions will forestall.
There
was little talk of healing during WW I and II.
Our minds were on the Kaisers and Hitler, and the Japanese emperor
too. But both wars led America to the
heights of influence and power.
America’s doughboys and Churchill were the heroes of the hour. Two of my older brothers dear fought in
Belgium’s theater. They both came home
to tell us God was everybody’s Creator.
For late in the War in’45 even before troops were mixed, at Ludendorff
Bridge whites fought with blacks as racial bigotry was nixed. When you fight beside a new black friend and
see Death shroud his face, you realize that you were taught wrong things back
home about race.
My
father was our textbook for the Depression years, I swear. Tidbits of info on it at every meal he’d
share. Now a sack of flour cost thus and
such and things were scarce, he said, but after a while the struggles of life
are not a thing to dread. They shore us up;
they teach us well to smile through times of need. If only what my father said more Americans
today would heed.
In
Vietnam we lost our way for victory was not our goal. Our sons and daughters all came home, as
murderers, or so they were told. On
college campuses throughout the land, effete collegians sang. At Woodstock, Boston, and L.A., their
treasonous protests rang. With Peter,
Paul, and Mary’s ballads that made the students cry, the goodness of America
they all began to deny. Since of a
winning spirit our leaders were bereft, we simply laid our weapons down and
ceremoniously left. Lost blood, lost
years, lost soldiers not a few, we may have learned a lesson, but I doubt it;
moreover, what with Afghanistan and other lands, is our nation building really
over?
Today
our nation still stands strong, but there is much division. And lest our snarling create more, we best
make certain decisions. Shall we
continue on to treat our spending like a pet, thinking a nation can exist
forever with permanent national debt? Do
moral issues matter? Is our highest
value our fun? Would pro-abort folks
pause if, for abortions, we used a gun?
We
have no solid guarantee our American experiment will last. 229 years of life is a very, very short
past. We best realize that spirit is
what’s missing, you see, and that loving all our neighbors leads to true
community.
So
hail to our America and to noble Francis Scott Key. It was he who heralded our flag that night
that led to our liberty.
Roger Hines
7/11/18
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