July 1, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Wednesday, July 1.
Each day this week, leading to the 4th, we’re looking at patriotic songs - and all five have one thing in common. They all mention God. That’s not surprising for today’s song, “My Country, ‘Tis if Thee”, when you realize it was written by a Baptist minister.
Samuel Francis Smith was a 24-year-old seminary student in 1831, when, to make some extra money, he took a job translating a German hymn book into English. As he was toiling over the old lyrics, he noticed a lovely melody, and was inspired to write new words. Later he realized the tune was the same as the one used by the British for their national anthem, “God Save the King” - a connection that had an unplanned symbolism when his song was first sung on July 4th of that year.
This patriotic hymn served as something of an unofficial national anthem, at least until “The Star Spangled Banner” was voted that honor in 1931. On Easter Sunday, 1939, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt arranged for opera star Marian Anderson to sing this song in front of the Lincoln Memorial, after she had been denied the chance to sing in Constitution Hall because of the color of her skin. On a hot August day in 1963, Martin Luther King, standing on the steps of that same hallowed monument, quoted the first verse of this song in his “I Have a Dream” speech. And on January 20, 2009, at the other end of the National Mall, another black man stood in front of the U.S. Capitol to take the oath of office as president. But before Barack Obama could say those words, Aretha Franklin sang these.
My country, ‘tis of Thee, sweet land of liberty, of Thee I sing
Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride
From every mountainside, let freedom ring!
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
