(written July 3)
I’m at the cabin, it’s early evening, and usually I would hear birds and not much else – maybe punctuated occasionally by a boat going by. But tonight it’s the day before the 4th of July, the neighbors a few doors down are having a huge party, and they are all singing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. I am not kidding. There is background music, but the people are definitely singing along. There are about 8 boats gathered in front of their place (and a bazillion cars parked up & down the road) so it’s quite the crowd. Now it’s America the Beautiful.
It’s at once touching and gagging. If it were 1949 I’d think it was awesome. But 2007? Not feeling too beautiful in this country these days, and the Lord doesn't seem to be leading us to victory in this war anytime soon!
[Interesting side note - I looked up the battle hymn and noticed the original line was " As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free" - eventually changed to live - what does that say about our attitudes toward war?!?!]
But isn’t the point of Independence Day to celebrate what’s good about America? In that respect, the scene before me is pretty cool. More boats are gathering spontaneously as I write: what’s not to like? People coming together, boating, drinking, singing… hallelujah!
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