01/20/2017
Old familiar songs often have weighty lyrics. Rarely do we hear the words of the second and third stanza's of "America the Beautiful". Sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at the inauguration, during the news coverage, these words caught my ear and are worth pondering: Second stanza: ..."O beautiful for pilgrim feet, Whose stern, impassioned stress - A thoroughfare for freedom beat - Across the wilderness! America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law. 2nd half of third stanza: America! America! May God thy gold refine, Till all success be nobleness, And every gain divine..."