Greetings Dear Reader,
Unless you avoid all media and sports today you are likely
to catch at least a snippet of our American National Anthem. I was at a baseball game and stood proudly as
a Marine veteran crooned the tune for us.
I reminded my Grandsons to be still and show respect.
At the same game I was honored to watch my Grandsons perform
Take me Out to the Ball Game for the Seventh Inning Stretch. As I waited for the game to resume I was
reminded of the other versus of The Star-Spangled Banner. It may be that we need to listen to the
entire song more often. Of particular
need in our time is an understanding of the last verse.
As I celebrate the freedom we have and take for granted I
ponder the issues over which we struggle and the division we have. I was talking with my younger Son, Bezel this
morning and we talked about how, as Christ followers we know that the truth of
so many things becomes easily evident when viewed through the lens of God’s
love.
We have forgotten how to put love for our fellow humans
ahead of politics and greed. We are in
danger of losing everything we cherish because we cherish for the wrong reasons. We have forgotten that freedom requires selflessness
and sacrifice. It demands that we work
together to keep it alive. Here is a
version of the National Anthem that includes the last verse.: The Star-Spangled Banner. Perhaps a bit of your celebration can include
it. The entire lyrics are below.
Happy Independence Day.
Complete version of "The Star-Spangled Banner"
showing spelling and punctuation from Francis Scott Key's manuscript in the
Maryland Historical Society collection.
O say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous
fight
O'er the ramparts we watch'd were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket's red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream,
'Tis the star-spangled banner - O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a Country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O thus be it ever when freemen shall stand
Between their lov'd home and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the power that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto - "In God is our trust,"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Wishing you joy in the journey,
Aramis Thorn
Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer
who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home
owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure
store.”
(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Contacts for Aramis
Thorn:
Bookings at aramisthorn@aramisthorn.com
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