America the Beautiful
I know that a great many folk do not care to be reminded, once again, of the pain and heartache of 9/11/2001. If you are one of them, you may want to move on. This was written and posted on September 14, 2001.
***
Gradually, over the last few days, the horror that struck America has been becoming more personal. Today especially, as I watched families and friends posting pictures and pleas on the Wall of Prayers, the lost were given faces. I listened to the husbands, the wives, the children, the mothers, beg for some indication that their loved ones were safe. My heart broke and I wept with them. It was not the first time my tears have fallen, nor will it be the last.
"Oh 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."
The flag has been flying in front of my home since Tuesday. It will fly there daily hereafter, proclamation that patriots live here, who support their country, who defend their country, who support and defend their countrymen. A candle burns inside, lit specifically in remembrance, carrying prayers to heaven for the grace of God. The sun has been shining here in the Puget Sound this week. The skies have been blue and peaceful. The mountains have stood in their awesome majesty above the plains and valleys rich with harvest. It is a stark contrast to the huge plume of smoke that drifts through New York City.
Of late, brotherhood from sea to shining sea has seemed to me to be a dream of our past with little hope of realization. The division between black and white has seemed to have become once more a chasm. The news has carried more and more stories indicating that ethnic hate not only remains but becomes more overt. Bickering and mudslinging, partisanship and pointed fingers appeared to have become a priority in our leadership.
And then, America was attacked. The vision of those jets flying into those towers and the eruption of flames and smoke...the sight of the towers crumbling in a gigantic cloud of glass and concrete...the blackened hole in the Pentagon...the charred pit in the ground in Pennsylvania...those pictures will not soon leave our consciousness. The screams, the cries, rumble of buildings falling, the sirens...those sounds will be heard for a very long time. But from those pictures and those sounds, the innate spirit of America has emerged.
"Oh 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."
Among the pictures I will carry, burned into my brain, will be the sight of rescue workers running into the chaos. The flags which have appeared everywhere...on homes, on cars, on the pigtails of the jogger seen yesterday morning, are a visible demonstration of the sense I have of a country joined together, a family standing shoulder to shoulder. The overwhelming response to the need for blood, so great that the blood banks ask us to make appointments; the $4,000 in donations on the street in one hour in response to a local radio station's request for donations; thousands gathered in candlelight vigils across the country; mountains of flowers outside U.S. embassies across the world, and the tears of those in those countries as they stand in silence in shared pain; the sound of the Star Spangled Banner being played, for the first time, at the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace...all of those touch my heart, and give me hope.
"Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.
America, America, thy gold refine.
Til all success be nobleness,
and every gain divine."
The heroes in America are many today. There are many standing ready, across our country, to go to New York to aid, firsthand, in seeking survivors, and in unearthing the dead so that they may be laid to rest properly. There are thousands, millions, giving of themselves in an effort to ease the pain of those whose lives have been changed unalterably through their personal loss, and of us whose lives have been changed unalterably through our collective loss.
"Oh 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.
To shining sea!"
On this day of national mourning and prayer, as the news coverage continues and we see more and more the personal losses, as the numbers and statistics give way to individual tragedies, as we learn more about how and why this befell us, I pray for us to carry our sense of brotherhood forward with us. I pray for America and its leadership to choose the wisest course in response to the evil visited upon us. I pray for us to stand together, and not fall victim to attacking those among us who look like those we think we should hate. I pray for us to exercise wisdom in how we handle concerns of safety so that we do not allow fear to take freedoms from us.
I pray for all of us, and I give thanks for the courage of the American people. I give thanks for the goodness of most, displayed across the world in the sympathetic outpourings of shared grief. I give thanks for the spirit of America, which refuses to be crushed in the face of efforts to intimidate it, and which boards planes, gathers publicly, picks up the pieces, and forges on.
I give thanks for you.
jacqui
***
Gradually, over the last few days, the horror that struck America has been becoming more personal. Today especially, as I watched families and friends posting pictures and pleas on the Wall of Prayers, the lost were given faces. I listened to the husbands, the wives, the children, the mothers, beg for some indication that their loved ones were safe. My heart broke and I wept with them. It was not the first time my tears have fallen, nor will it be the last.
"Oh 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."
The flag has been flying in front of my home since Tuesday. It will fly there daily hereafter, proclamation that patriots live here, who support their country, who defend their country, who support and defend their countrymen. A candle burns inside, lit specifically in remembrance, carrying prayers to heaven for the grace of God. The sun has been shining here in the Puget Sound this week. The skies have been blue and peaceful. The mountains have stood in their awesome majesty above the plains and valleys rich with harvest. It is a stark contrast to the huge plume of smoke that drifts through New York City.
Of late, brotherhood from sea to shining sea has seemed to me to be a dream of our past with little hope of realization. The division between black and white has seemed to have become once more a chasm. The news has carried more and more stories indicating that ethnic hate not only remains but becomes more overt. Bickering and mudslinging, partisanship and pointed fingers appeared to have become a priority in our leadership.
And then, America was attacked. The vision of those jets flying into those towers and the eruption of flames and smoke...the sight of the towers crumbling in a gigantic cloud of glass and concrete...the blackened hole in the Pentagon...the charred pit in the ground in Pennsylvania...those pictures will not soon leave our consciousness. The screams, the cries, rumble of buildings falling, the sirens...those sounds will be heard for a very long time. But from those pictures and those sounds, the innate spirit of America has emerged.
"Oh 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."
Among the pictures I will carry, burned into my brain, will be the sight of rescue workers running into the chaos. The flags which have appeared everywhere...on homes, on cars, on the pigtails of the jogger seen yesterday morning, are a visible demonstration of the sense I have of a country joined together, a family standing shoulder to shoulder. The overwhelming response to the need for blood, so great that the blood banks ask us to make appointments; the $4,000 in donations on the street in one hour in response to a local radio station's request for donations; thousands gathered in candlelight vigils across the country; mountains of flowers outside U.S. embassies across the world, and the tears of those in those countries as they stand in silence in shared pain; the sound of the Star Spangled Banner being played, for the first time, at the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace...all of those touch my heart, and give me hope.
"Oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife.
Who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.
America, America, thy gold refine.
Til all success be nobleness,
and every gain divine."
The heroes in America are many today. There are many standing ready, across our country, to go to New York to aid, firsthand, in seeking survivors, and in unearthing the dead so that they may be laid to rest properly. There are thousands, millions, giving of themselves in an effort to ease the pain of those whose lives have been changed unalterably through their personal loss, and of us whose lives have been changed unalterably through our collective loss.
"Oh 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.
To shining sea!"
On this day of national mourning and prayer, as the news coverage continues and we see more and more the personal losses, as the numbers and statistics give way to individual tragedies, as we learn more about how and why this befell us, I pray for us to carry our sense of brotherhood forward with us. I pray for America and its leadership to choose the wisest course in response to the evil visited upon us. I pray for us to stand together, and not fall victim to attacking those among us who look like those we think we should hate. I pray for us to exercise wisdom in how we handle concerns of safety so that we do not allow fear to take freedoms from us.
I pray for all of us, and I give thanks for the courage of the American people. I give thanks for the goodness of most, displayed across the world in the sympathetic outpourings of shared grief. I give thanks for the spirit of America, which refuses to be crushed in the face of efforts to intimidate it, and which boards planes, gathers publicly, picks up the pieces, and forges on.
I give thanks for you.
jacqui