Conservative With A Heart

The “Star Spangled Banner” holds more than words that proclaim the anthem of this nation. The hope of a country can be found embedded in the verses of the song.

The radio theater broadcast from Adventures in Odyssey was playing on the radio as I drove. I got caught up in the story of the Revolutionary War and the Battle at Fort McHenry. The sounds and voices carried me back to that day and I felt the emotion of the dawn breaking and the light shining down on the Stars and Stripes. “Dawn’s Early Light” brought me to tears, and from that day forward the “Star Spangled Banner” did as well.

This morning I was reminded that the one verse most of us learn in school and sing at ball games does not even begin to touch on the story.

Lyrics for the “Star Spangled Banner”

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe’s haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o’er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning’s first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle’s confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps’ pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause. it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Knowing the history of our songs, our government and our people will help us continue to live the life of freedom and unity held in this amazing song! May the words from so many years ago inspire you for today.

Good, positive and uplifting thoughts and actions carry me through my day. Last year I discovered Glenn Beck, and his words encouraged me. I started taping his shows and signed up for his newsletter. My family also began to attend Tea Party events. The words about doing and changing were exciting.

The climate changed somewhere along the way. Turning on the news, even Glenn Beck, became a hate fest. All of the negative thoughts and words began to drag me down. So I turned it all off. I even stopped opening the emails sent to me regularly and just trashed them when they popped up.

A few days ago, I posted and article about Obama bashing. The negative talk had reached my breaking point. Enough was enough.

To my surprise, I was not the only one that felt the negative had gotten out of hand. Glenn Beck announced yesterday that he was changing his tune.

See, I can want something different from you and that does not make either of us bad people. My words can counter your idea – or even prove it wrong – and that does nothing to lessen you the person.

People are fundamentally good. That may be the optimist in me, but it is a statement that I hold true. Ideas may be wrong, because of misdirection, misinformation, or misguidance, but people are at their core good, positive and uplifting.

I vote in elections. Sometimes I will even openly support a candidate. But when the dust settles, I have to choose to get behind the PERSON that is elected even if I do not agree with the ideas. That means I can push against the ideas and even offer up my own ideas, but I should never attack the person.

The political season has just begun. America will only survive the chaos if we quit fighting and look for the good, the positive and the uplifting that we can all agree makes this country such an amazing place.

1. We have the freedom to have different views.
2. We have the freedom (and opportunity) to express our views.

There are so many more things that make this country great! What are the good, positive and uplifting ideas that you see?