Floats, festival, food, fair, fireworks, family, friends, fun! That's my Fourth of July in a nutshell. As I express gratitude for the United States of America today, I praise the best of this country and hope for the best. There is much to be grateful for in this country, especially when it is so easy to tear apart our faults (real or supposed). Such thoughts are expressed in Katherine Lee Bates' lyrics of the song, "America the Beautiful" (I've rearranged the lyrics as a way to make this expression more personal):
"God shed his grace on thee...
...May God thy gold refine,
'Til all success be nobleness
And every gain divine.
"God shed his grace on thee...
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.
"For [lovely] 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!"
I am grateful for the United States of America!
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