Happy Birthday America!

America, the beautiful. What does that mean?

If you ask Katherine Lee Bates, who wrote the lyrics to America the Beautiful, she might say, as she looks upon our country from the top of Pike's Peak, that America is beautiful, with its purple mountains and fruited plains. I've been on Pike's Peak, and the view is breath-taking. God's creative hand is obvious.

She also wrote of a country with unselfish heroes and patriot dreams. She wrote of a country with pilgrims willing to cross unknown wilderness. She wrote of a country where God is present and gives grace. She wrote of a country that is beautiful.

My friend brought this song to mind. It was sung at her church on Sunday. She couldn't sing it. She saw the dark portions of our history, which cannot be separated from the good.

We don't know what was in Katherine's mind when she wrote this song. Maybe she saw the good and beauty in our country. Maybe she ignored the bad. But she did want the grace that God gives us.

But what of the horrendous past? What about the suffering caused by the pilgrim's feet across the wilderness? Can we call something in our country beautiful, knowing that it came with a bloody price?

I think the answer is yes and no, depending on what it is.

The words from a Nichole Nordeman song come to mind (she is referring to God):
But you called me beautiful
When you saw my shame
And you placed me on the wall
Anyway

I have not yet decided how these words apply to our country, if they do at all.