Just as we do on the Fourth of July each year here in the United States, we will celebrate Independence Day this weekend. In so doing, we should always remember that there is a price for that independence—it does not come free.
We are only independent because of those who have fought and given their lives to gain our independence and to maintain it.
Because of our independence, we are indeed free to enjoy this holiday and the tremendous land we live in. That's why many of you will celebrate this weekend with the festivities of the summer—fireworks, parades, family gatherings, barbecues, picnics, baseball games, ceremonies, and political speeches at governmental monuments and cemeteries.
You might even sing a course or two of "The Star Spangled Banner" or "America the Beautiful."
Even though "America the Beautiful" was considered as our official anthem before Congress selected "The Star Spangled Banner" in 1931, it does not have a status as an official national hymn or anthem of the United States. Still, it is probably as well known...
America the Beautiful
Lyrics by Katharine Lee Bates, Music by Samuel A Ward
O 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 for 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!
.
Celebrating the Fourth of July means recognizing we, as Americans, are free to enjoy this great land we live in, and pursue a life by means of our own ambition and hard work, from sea to shining sea.