Winning Words 7/3/12
“America is a tune.  It must be sung together.”  (Gerald Stanley Lee)  I just talked with a friend of mine who was in the German army in WW2.  He was a member of one of my congregations and sang in the choir.  One Sunday the anthem was, “America.”  I recall hearing “America, America,” in a lusty German accent being sung by him, an adopted patriot.  “America” was once proposed as the national anthem.    ;-)  Jack

 'AMERICA' --Words by Katharine Bates and music by Samuel Ward
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 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 every gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam,
Undimmed by human tears!
America! America!
God mend thine every flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self control,
Thy liberty in law.

FROM PEPPERMINT MARY:  I prefer to think it still is our anthem.  Singing about war in our current anthem plants too many seeds.  I am respectful when it is played, but choose not to sing along.  And you know how I love to sing!////FROM JACK:  It's easier to sing, too.  Personally, I'm not impressed when soloists try to "jazz" it up.

FROM HY-YO MICHIGAN:  Nice. I'll use this - credit to you!////FROM JACK:  One thing that really bothers me is that so many people aren't willing to sing together, or purposely sing off-key.////HY-YO AGAIN:  Boom! Even better.

FROM PRPH IN MINNESOTA:  and were it not for one single vote take in 1776 (i think that was the year), we would all be speaking German today and not English!////FROM JACK:  What difference does the language make, so long as there's communication.