May 30, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, May 30.
Yesterday, a good crowd of community friends met at our civic center for a Memorial Day event. One of the children from First Baptist, Dylan Roberts, gave us a special moment as he sang "God Bless America".
This song was written in 1918, during World War I, when it's composer, Irving Berlin, was a private in the U.S. Army. He revised it right before World War II, and on Armistice Day, 1938, Kate Smith premiered this "new' song on her radio show. Its' popularity swept the nation. If we examine the lyrics, we could easily describe it as a song of prayer. Berlin called it a peace song. The verse is seldom sung today, but Kate Smith always included it in her rendition -
"As the storm clouds gather far across the sea, we will pledge allegiance to a land that's free
"We will all be grateful for a land so fair, as we raise our voices in a solemn prayer"
Kate Smith raised over 600 million dollars in war bonds, more than any other celebrity. Irving Berlin donated the millions in royalties from this song to the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts of America. He died in 1989. She died in 1986. But their song lives on. A song of patriotism. A song of peace. A song of prayer.
"God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light from above
"From the mountains to the prairies, to the oceans white with foam, God bless America, my home sweet home.
"God bless America, my home sweet home."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
