Remembering

The following song has special meaning to me because it was sung as the opening hymn at the Falls Church (Episcopal) on the Sunday after 9-11. While God Bless America is the one that most people think of when they remember 9-11 (who can forget the members of Congress standing on Capitol Hill singing it?) My Country Tis of Thee will forever be branded on my spirit.

My Country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love.
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture fills
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song.
Let rocks their silence break,
Let all that breathe partake;
Let mortal tongues awake;
The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God, our King! A-men.

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