America for me!

Friday night Rich and I were able to attend a potluck and fireside of sorts. A man in our ward who has a PhD in History gave a speech about America--possibly the best I've ever heard. He spoke of God's hand in the discovery of America and the founding of her government. He quoted scripture and recited speeches from founding fathers such as Patrick Henry and quoted from Thomas Paine's Common Sense. By the end you couldn't help but feel patriotic! What a great country we live in! How blessed we are to live in a country founded by great men. As President Wilford Woodruff declared, "those men who laid the foundation of this American government and signed the Declaration of Independence were the best spirits the God of heaven could find on the face of the earth. They were choice spirits … [and] were inspired of the Lord." Wow. At the conclusion of his speech, Bro. Christensen recited the words of Henry van Dyke:

'Tis fine to see the Old World and travel up and down

Among the famous palaces and cities of renown,

To admire the crumbly castles and the statues of the kings, --

But now I think I've had enough of antiquated things.

So it's home again, and home again, America for me!

My heart is turning home again, and there I long to be,

In the land of youth and freedom, beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars!

Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air;

And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair;

And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome;

But when it comes to living there is no place like home.

I like the German fir-woods in green battalions drilled;

I like the gardens of Versailles with flashing foutains filled;

But, oh, to take your hand, my dear, and ramble for a day

In the friendly western woodland where Nature has her way!

I know that Europe's wonderful, yet something seems to lack:

The Past is too much with her, and the people looking back.

But the glory of the Present is to make the Future free,--

We love our land for what she is and what she is to be.

Oh, it's home again, and home again, America for me!

I want a ship that's westward bound to plough the rolling sea,

To the blessed Land of Room Enough, beyond the ocean bars,

Where the air is full of sunlight and the flag is full of stars.