I have always thought that America the Beautiful was a much more moving testament to the greatness of our nation, and certainly easier to sing, than The Star-Spangled Banner.
But I never realized just how appropriate it was -- how appropriate it
is especially now -- until Friday, when we sang it at the prayer vigil
held at noon at my college. Although the most famous verse speaks mostly
of the beauty of America's natural features, the other verses speak
more directly of the beauty of the American people.
Ray
Charles does, of course, sing the famous first verse in his rendition of
the song. His soulful, classy cover of these lines was the highlight of
the Superbowl for me. It floored me and stirred up patriotism within
me. But when I managed to get ahold of a recording of his America the Beautiful
-- which, to be fair, I should mention was part of a regular CD and not
a single, which I was unable to locate -- I noticed that he begins not
with the first verse, but with the third. I can't recall having heard
the third verse before Friday. I recollect hearing the second and fourth
verses before, but the third struck me like a bolt of lightning. It was
as though that verse had been written specifically in response to
Tuesday.
I don't know why Mr. Charles decided to start with
that verse, but I'm glad he did. An eighteenth-century French historian
observed that "America is great because America is good." I think we've
forgotten that lately. We've forgotten that America is full of good
people and we've forgotten to be good ourselves. We've allowed our
nation to become the one described in Paul Simon's despairing American Tune.
But Tuesday's tragedy reminded us that heroism is still alive and well
here, and verse three honors those who made the ultimate sacrifice for
their comrades. "O beautiful for heroes prov'd / in liberating strife, /
who more than self their country loved / and mercy more than life."
Not only did many risk -- and some sacrifice -- their lives, the entire
country has shown that we have realized what is truly important in
life. We are willing to give up a little of our own comfort in order to
help one another. I've seen it in our leaders, who never left their
posts during this ordeal, but rather worked past the point of exhaustion
in order to bring comfort to the nation. I've seen it in the American
flags and other outpourings of patriotism. I've seen it in the playing
of the Star-Spangled Banner at the changing of the guard in
London and in other demonstrations around the world. I've seen it in the
last-minute telethons that raise tens of thousands of dollars and in
the mile-long lines at the bloodmobiles. It's here, and we are a part of
it.
Charles does not sing the entire song in his version; he
leaves out verses two and four, which both speak to us in different but
equally important ways. Verse two concludes with "God mend thine ev'ry
flaw, / confirm thy soul in self-control, / thy liberty in law." God has
already used this horrendous event to mend our spirit and our sense of
what really matters in life. We realize now how precious our lives are
and how trivial so many of the concerns that plagued us a week and a
half ago. But these words are also a warning. We need to exercise
self-control and not allow ourselves to be drawn into the downward
spiral of hatred that allowed those terrorists to do what they did. If
we lash out against Muslims or Arabs or any other innocent group of
people who have some identification with our attackers out of a
misguided sense of vigilante justice, then the terrorists will have won.
We must keep the moral high ground.
Finaly, where the second
verse serves as a caution and the third as a tribute, the fourth verse
declares hope. "O beautiful for patriot dream / that sees beyond the
years. / Thine alabaster cities gleam, / undimmed by human tears." Right
now, America is in a very dark moment in its history. It may be hard
for us to think of America standing tall when we see the devastation in
New York and Washington. But it will, and it has already begun to do so.
As Mayor Guilliani said, "We're going to rebuild, and rebuild
stronger." A terrible tragedy struck us last week, but the American
spirit is stronger than ever. With that burning within us, we will make a
better America, crowned in brotherhood. And that is the most fitting
memorial for our fallen that we could ever hope for.
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