May 30, 2022 (Monday)
Memorials to Americans who have died in the defense of freedom can be found all over the world. The sun never sets on the graves of those who have “given the last full measure of sacrifice.”
There are also Living Memorials: people who are dedicated to the ideals upon which this nation was founded: Democracy, Liberty of Conscience, and Equality before the Law. We honor the war dead by dedicating ourselves to the preservation of the principles for which they died, and so become “Living Memorials.”
Spiritual Memorials also speak volumes about our feelings. Our worship is such a memorial, honoring and exalting the death of God’s only Son, who shed His blood for our eternal salvation. He conquered death itself, and in His Name we preach forgiveness, acceptance and peace. As Christians living by the teachings of our Savior, let us celebrate the freedom of religion that is our God-given right, guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our beloved country.
AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL
Words, Katherine Lee Bates1893,1895
Music, Samuel A. Ward 1910O 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 of freedom beat
Across the wilderness!America! America!
God mend thine every 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
Till all success be nobleness
And every 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!O beautiful for halcyon skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the enameled plain!America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till souls wax fair as earth and air
And music-hearted sea!O beautiful for pilgrims feet
Whose stem impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till paths be wrought through
Wilds of thought
By pilgrim foot and knee!O beautiful for glory-tale
Of liberating strife
When once and twice
For man’s avail
Men lavished precious life!America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
Till selfish gain no longer stain
The banner of the free!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
Till nobler men keep once again
Thy whiter jubilee!