I went to church this past Sunday, and it being the weekend before the Fourth of July, we sang several patriotic hymns. It was kinda fun. I was particularly moved by America The Beautiful. The congregation I was visiting was small, but very friendly — the people obviously like one another a great deal. Their voices were warm and passionate. The second verse spoke to me particularly:

O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern, impassioned stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law!

Recognition that America has flaws, a desire to improve the country, the value of self-control, and a recognition of the importance of Liberty to the rule of law — these are virtues we are sorely in need of right now. I was left wondering if Katharine Lee Bates, the school teacher that wrote that poem, would be called un-American for these sentiments today?

Sad days, these.