Two Hundred Forty and Countiung

   With just a hint of light in the eastern sky, I walked out early this morning. I could see that the flag hanging outside the gate was wound around the flagpole, and part was stretched out on the concrete pillar where it had been caught during the night.

   So I stopped and unfurled the flag.

   And I thought...

   Today is the 240th anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence.

   And I thought...

   How many times had our country's symbolic flag been unfurled over these years and in what kind of circumstances?

   In celebrations, in times of sorrow, on battlefields and over soup lines..

   How many people had stood and looked and felt?

   Joy, Pride, Sorrow, or Foreboding..

   And, as I walked on up the road, I began to hum..

   "While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer. "

    God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home."

   We need that blessing so very much today.

   Let it be so, and let us be worthy of it.