CROWN THY GOOD WITH BROTHERHOOD

I’ve always loved this hmyn, since the first time I heard it as a little kid. And I love my country – with all of her beauty, and in spite of her flaws. And I am so grateful – so, so grateful – for the beauty of “…heroes prov’d in liberating strife, who more than self their country loved, and mercy more than life.”

Please take a moment, and read:

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 pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion’d stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.

America! America!
God mend thine ev’ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

O beautiful for heroes prov’d
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 ev’ry gain divine.

O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.

America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

And now, listen. This gives me chills, every time.