July 7, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Tuesday, July 7.
The church I attended last Sunday included several patriotic songs in their morning service. I was glad that they did. The service featured several of the songs that we featured last week in these Daily Devotions. But there was one that we left out. A song that is often heard on patriotic holidays. This morning we focus our attention on “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory.” I like to call it by that name, instead of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic.” After over a century and a half, the song can stand on its own as one of our patriotic favorites, and doesn’t have to be linked with its connection to The Civil War.
But that is, of course, its origin story, written in 1861 by abolitionist Julia Ward Howe. And it was, certainly, a rallying cry for the North during the devastating years of The War Between the States. But in 1963 it was also a song sung by Judy Garland on her TV show, just days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. And when his brother, Robert, was shot and killed in 1968, Andy Williams sang it at his funeral. Anita Bryant shared it at Lyndon Johnson’s passing, and the Morehouse College Choir presented it at the memorial for Jimmy Carter.
Julia Howe was inspired to write this song after a private meeting with Abraham Lincoln. Two years later, the President would give what is widely considered the greatest speech in history, the Gettysburg Address. His words echoed those words we celebrated last Saturday, the Declaration of Independence.
“Four score and seven years ago our forefathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
Glory, Glory, Hallelujah!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
