“God shed his grace on thee!”
God’s Son Jesus shed his blood for thee!
Thomas Jefferson once said, “God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure, when we have removed the conviction that these liberties are a gift of God? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
I love finding information about how songs are brought forth in the hymn American the Beautiful, sung on the 4th of July.
The lyrics were a poem written by Katharine Lee Bates in 1895 put to the melody composed by Samuel A Ward, of Jewish descent.
Samuel A Ward wrote his musical score years before, in 1883. He named the piece of the musical score “O Mother Dear, Jerusalem. “
Her poem and His written melody combined to give us the following;
🎵” America the Beautiful”
This Hymn has Jerusalem roots, and the USA lives in the middle.
If we, as Americans, would obey this scripture.
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
The lyrics bring me to tears;
These verses from so long ago are fitting for today’s 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
A little History of the poet
In July of 1893, a poet named Katharine Bates
Living in Falmouth on the Cape, Bates’ minister father died when she was just a month old. To feed and clothe her four young children, her widowed mother had to be thrifty and find ways to share and barter. She sewed for neighbors, sold eggs and asparagus, and the Bates boys would chop wood for other widows.
Her mother often said: ‘Share and share alike.’ Katharine grew up seeing her mother put these principles into practice: a Proverbs 31 Mother.
The end of World War 1
In 1918, when the armistice ending World War I took effect on November 11, “From sea to shining sea” took on a more global meaning for Miss Bates.
On that day, Americans walked out of their trenches, some in tears, and began singing “America the Beautiful.”
“She said she cried when she heard the story herself; She realized she had written a song that spoke or gave voice to these soldiers.” They could picture the country they loved and now would be able to come home to.”
When she wrote the poem
She was just outside Colorado Springs, Colo. Pikes Peek. She was recovering from depression caused by the end of her courtship with Theophilus Root.
The day she wrote the poem ( lyrics)
The sun hit the red rocks, and the alpine evergreens were dusted with snow. “In the late afternoon, as the sun is shining and the shadows are coming over the mountains, the mountain looks purple,”
“It radiates this purple glow, and it is beautiful.”
She recalls, “It was then and there, as I was looking out over the sea-like expanse of the fertile country spreading away so far under those ample skies, that the opening lines of the hymn floated into my mind.
The view also overwhelmed Miss Bates. She later wrote:
“All the wonder of America seemed displayed there.”
America, the beautiful poem, was birthed in those moments.
Depression can not stay where Grace abounds. “ God shed your Grace on thee.”
Seeing our flag sailing across the water brings gratitude to my heart for all who have served this country and have given their lives for our freedom.
🎵From sea to shining sea