AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

LYRICS BY KATHARINE LEE BATES-1913

O 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!



O beautiful for pilgrim feet,


Whose stern impassion'd stress


A thoroughfare for freedom beat


Across the wilderness!
America!

America! God mend thine ev'ry 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!


America! America! May God thy gold refine


Till all success be nobleness,


And ev'ry gain divine!



O 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!

I love our national anthem but we sang this in church on Sunday and I just really enjoyed singing all of the verses and it really made me think. Considering tomorrow is the 4th of July I wanted to post it! Listening to patriotic music always makes me happy and no matter how crazy things seem to be with our government right now i'm still so proud to be an American. I will end with this quote from Abraham Lincoln. It seems so appropriate right now.

"America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Abraham Lincoln