Skip to main content

A Love Song

Oh say, can you see by the dawn's early light what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
 Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. 
 Oh say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I am so proud to be an American. I really am. America is my home. My motherland. I love her with all my heart.

There are two things I must clarify here though: first, I don't view America as "better" than all the other countries; and second, I'm by no means proud of everything about her.
America is a great country, but she's not the only country. Nor should she be. Other countries add so much interest, worth, and beauty to our world--something that I have seen more and more this last semester as I've studied the world. I would be very bored with the world if it was all like America. Differences are what make us awesome. I don't look down on other countries, I just love America, because again... this is my home.

Not everything this country has done is worthy of being proud of. In fact, many things that America has done make me want to go hide behind the nearest rock, bush, or wall. Just like a person, she has some things she's done that haven't been the best, and some of them have been downright bad. But also like a person, she has her merits. The things she's done right. The things worth being proud of. The things that make me want to lift up my head, lay my hand on my heart and sing the Anthem at the top of my lungs. From the top of a mountain. Over a loudspeaker. These are the reasons that people dedicate themselves and risk their lives to defend her. These are the things about her that make me proud.



There's not much I wouldn't do for this country. I love her. I love the things she stands for. I love her for the good things she has done and even the good intentions that didn't work out. I believe she has so much potential to grow and become. I believe she has so much potential to help and lift and lead. And I will do everything in my power to help her become what she can become.
"Just when you think it might be over, just when you think the fight is lost, someone will risk his life to raise her...there she stands."


 What would you give for your homeland?

Comments

  1. Missy April 30, 2013 at 3:19 PM

    Chip, Thank you for this post! <3333

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CatherineApril 30, 2013 at 4:07 PM

      Thank YOU for commenting! I'm glad I'm not speaking to empty cyber space. (: And I'm glad you liked it!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wanderers in a Strange Land

"If I find in myself desires which nothing in this world can satisfy, the only logical explanation is that I was made for another world." ~C.S. Lewis   Recently, it hit me in a totally new way, and has continued to do so, that we as human beings really are other-worldly creatures. We are not made for this world. We are wanderers in a strange land, poor wayfaring strangers here. We're equipped for this world, but it's not our natural habitat. What makes me think this? There are many things that have brought me to this conclusion. Let me list a few. Desires which nothing in this world can satisfy. There are so many of these, are there not? We hate goodbyes, whether that goodbye is temporary or long-term; we want to be with our friends and loved ones forever. We also want friendships that go so much deeper than is humanly possible. I don't know if I can describe this desire, but hopefully you've felt it and you know what I'm talking about. We want to...
8 comments
Read more

This is for You

My dear friend, I'm about to tell you something important, something true. Something I know from the bottom of my heart. it is not a painful truth, it's a happy, awesome one. It will make your life better when you know it, too.  But you are not going to believe me. You have self-conditioned to disbelieve what it is I am going to tell you. It's not that it would be painful to accept. It would, in fact, be wonderful. You don't accept it because you can't see it. But faith is believing in things we can't see. So I am asking you to suspend your disbelief for a minute and be willing to believe what I am about to tell you, because I KNOW it's true. And here it is. You... are beautiful. I'm serious. You have no idea. Girl, you're amazing! I know you can't see it in yourself, but even the most drop-dead, unbelievably beautiful people can't see it in themselves. And I'm telling you, you are so beautiful! Don't you dare disbelieve me! ;)...
5 comments
Read more

The Path

I feel like one of those characters at the end of an epic movie who finishes their quest in the exact same place as it started. The place looks the same, and so do other people, but they know they will never be the same. They cannot be.  The girl stands, looking up at the place where it all began, knowing she is not the same. She takes a deep breath. Runs her fingers through her hair. Sighs. But instead of end credits rolling, she turns around and realizes there's a path before her feet. It's foggy and twisty, but it's a path . She doesn't know where it goes. She takes one last look over her shoulder at all that she can see of her previous adventure. Then she turns and, without looking back, follows the path. She has no choice; she can't go back the way she came. So she goes forward, into the fog. She knows that somewhere along this path, someday, she will come to a place... and look up at it... and go inside... only to come out a different person. And she'll ...
6 comments
Read more