Joe Boyles: Guest Columnist
I watched some of last week’s inauguration events. There was this concert at the Lincoln Memorial and they trotted out Lee Greenwood to sing his iconic song, “God Bless the USA.” As you might imagine, that really enthused the crowd. That music is more than thirty years old and still gives me goose bumps. It is a favorite of Republicans. They play it frequently; Democrats – not so much.
Why does the song inspire me? Although I’m not a musician, I think the construction of the music is classic. It begins slowly, reverently and builds to a crescendo with the chorus. The lyrics are terrific, and it ends with the title. That’s a good combination.
When I hear the song, I always think of my Dad who was perhaps the most patriotic fellow I’ve ever known. He was raised on a farm in nearby Suwannee County and served during World War II in the European Theater as an artillery officer. I came along a few years after the war. My father raised me in every sense of the word. He was the best civics teacher I ever had. He was fiercely patriotic and imparted those values to me.
I love the geography lesson that the song presents in the second verse: “From the lakes of Minnesota, to the hills of Tennessee; across the plains of Texas, from sea to shining sea; from Detroit down to Houston and New York to LA.” We are one United States of America across the breadth of this great land. We live in a great nation. While I am a native Floridian, I have lived in many other states: Colorado, North Carolina, California, Utah, Alabama, Ohio, Arizona, and visited most of the others. Each is unique and special. As Woody Guthrie wrote, “This land is your land; this land is my land.”
The chorus begins this way: “And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free; and I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.” When I hear that verse, I think of those I knew who died in the service to our country. Their faces cross my mind: Mike, Bud, Steve, Fran, Tom, Mason, Larry, Blake, Joe, Lloyd, Michael, Phil, Al … the list seems endless. They were ordinary guys who were called on to make an extraordinary sacrifice, and we are the beneficiaries. It continues.
The song honors our flag with this phrase: “cause the flag still stands for freedom, and they can’t take that away.” As much as I love the words, I disagree. Our freedom can be eroded by encroaching government. In small but steady measures, we can lose our freedoms if we don’t stay vigilant. But I respect and love the flag of our nation. I have little patience for those who do not. This is the same flag that covered my Father’s coffin a quarter century ago and someday, will cover mine.
Is America a blessed nation, guided by the providence of God’s omnipotent hand? I like to think so. When I study the emigration of our first citizens in the early 17th Century, I realize that it was religious persecution that they were escaping to brave the dangers of a hazardous voyage to a new and better world, as William Bradford wrote, “a shining city upon a hill.”
A generation later in 1638, my ancestors emigrated from Hingham, Norfolk to Hingham, Massachusetts for the same reason. Instead of a state church, they sought a land where they could practice their faith as God’s Holy Spirit guided them.
This tradition followed for centuries as our young nation matured and sought independence. George Washington clearly believed in God’s blessing: “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor.”
Abraham Lincoln clearly supported this notion when he declared a “national day of Thanksgiving” be observed in late November, an opportunity to thank God for His blessing and deliverance. Before that, the great French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville wrote: “The Americans combine the notions of Christianity and of liberty so intimately in their minds that it is impossible to make them conceive of one without the other.” When Franklin Roosevelt came on the radio to announce the D-Day landings in June 1944, he did so in the form of a prayer and thanksgiving.
Thank you Lee Greenwood for reminding us of this important acknowledgement in song. God guide us back to His path when we lose our way. “God Bless the USA.”