THE GREATNESS of AMERICA

(Why People Love America)

America is a beautiful land and a bountiful land from sea to shining sea, from her majestic and high mountain reaches to her green and lush forest and fertile plains and valleys, her rivers, her great lakes, her mountain streams, her wetlands and burning deserts; America has it all. America is abundant in natural resources, everything a person truly needs we have in good supply.  America is truly a land blessed by God with a bounty of riches and a love for freedom and liberty and a generosity and kindness toward their fellow man.  This is our land, America.

America is great in many ways but America’s greatest asset is her foundation, her faith in God, her trust in God as the Captain at the helm of our Ship of State. I have a small plaque with words on it that were written by a French Statesman, Alexis de Tocqueville in the mid 19th century. I think these words pretty well sum up what America is truly about and why we are all we are today and still stand as the sentinel of freedom, that shining light of liberty and peace and love to the world.  He said…

THE GREATNESS and GENIUS of AMERICA

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, and it was not there.

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her fertile fields and boundless forest, and it was not there.

I sought the greatness and genius of America in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there.

I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her public school system and institutions of learning, and it was not there.

I sought the greatness and genius of America in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution, and it was not there.

Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits flame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power.

America is great because America is good and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great. -Alexis de Tocqueville

America, Our Land, the Nation, Country we call home, one the greatest nations the world has ever known. We are the Land of hope and the sentinel of freedom to the world. We are the Land of refuge for the oppressed peoples of the world. We are the inspiration and the courage and strength of liberty. We are the proudest, greatest nation on Earth today. We are America. This is our America.

We are a Nation based on Christian principles on which our Constitution was founded and through which we have reached out to other nations for Freedom’s sake since our very beginning. We have truly loved our God and our neighbor as ourself. We are America. We have been there with strength and courage and help wherever on this Earth there has been a need through famine and flood, earthquake, volcano, terrorist attacks, oppression and enslavement, whenever disaster has struck, wherever we were needed and we could help. We were there. We have stood tall for freedom and human rights and dignity. We have given our very all. We are America.

Our own freedom came at a high price and a price we must consistently and constantly guard. American Patriots have given their very all, their life, their families, their fortunes for freedom’s sake from Concord bridge to Valley Forge; from Fort Sumter to Fredericksburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga, Gettysburg to New Orleans, the Alamo, the Spanish American war, World War I, World War II, Pearl Harbor, Normandy, Japan, the Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, Viet Nam, Lebanon, Yemen, Palestine, Israel, the Suez Canal, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan. We were there; we are there; America’s proud and brave Patriots standing tall and giving their all for freedom and all a free land has to offer.  Samuel F. Smith said it all…

“AMERICA
(My country, ’tis of Thee)

My country, ’tis of Thee,

Sweet Land of Liberty

Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet Freedom’s song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom’s holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King.

Our glorious Land to-day,
‘Neath Education’s sway,
Soars upward still.
Its hills of learning fair,
Whose bounties all may share,
behold them everywhere
On vale and hill!

Thy safeguard, Liberty,
The school shall ever be,
Our Nation’s pride!
No tyrant hand shall smite,
While with encircling might
All here are taught the Right
With Truth allied.

Beneath Heaven’s gracious will
The stars of progress still
Our course do sway;
In unity sublime
To broader heights we climb,
Triumphant over Time,
God speeds our way!

Grand birthright of our sires,
Our altars and our fires
Keep we still pure!
Our starry flag unfurled,
The hope of all the world,
In peace and light impearled,
God hold secure!”

Samuel F. Smith – 1832

We have kept the torch of freedom burning and the spirit of democracy alive through peace and war and strife and prosperity. This is America, the bulwark of peace and freedom, hope, justice and liberty for the entire world. God bless America.