America the Beautiful
Mr. Pettit and I have visited all 50 states. Our current quest is to add a sticker to our trailer’s U.S. map for each state in which we have camped. I don’t believe we’ll fill it in completely—I don’t foresee a road trip to Alaska, for example— but I have learned that “never” is an invitation to “maybe.”
We are wanderers, born to roam.
On Independence Day, I thought about the wonders we have witnessed. The foothills of Montana’s mountains wrapped in a deep green blanket of summer grass. The roar of the Columbia River as it crashes through its namesake gorge in Oregon. The cathedrals of snow and clouds of steam on a winter’s day in Yellowstone National Park. The vastness of Lake Superior, her clear waters belying her mercurial nature. A whispering stream in Shenandoah National Park. The depths of Mammoth Cave.
Overwhelming beauty.
But the places are only half of the equation. The people? That is where serendipity comes into play.
Mr. Pettit plans our trips and I am more than happy to leave the groundwork to him. I only need to know what type of climate to pack for (sometimes more than one) and if we’re camping I load up the trailer with provisions, much like a chuckwagon in the old West.
When we look at the itinerary we can be relatively certain that a mountain or lake will not move before we can get there. (Although I must add that I never saw Mt. Rainier due to inclement weather. Mr. Pettit assures me it does exist. I am skeptical.)
But we never know whom we might meet.
Every journey involves conversations with folks we probably won’t see again. A little girl in North Carolina who was stunned that we were traveling on to Georgia: “That’s so far away!” A Michigan native who laughed about her first encounter with the Atlantic Ocean: “Yuck! It was so salty!” A Tennessee couple who patiently answered our questions about their electric bikes: “You’re welcome to try them.” (Uh, no. thank you. Worried about wrecking the things.)
This is the true beauty of America.
When I listen to voices amplified by television, radio and the internet I start to believe that half of my fellow citizens hate me and I must hate them in return. But when we hit the road we don’t encounter representatives of political parties or advocacy groups. We meet individuals, often fellow travelers like ourselves. A dad rushing after his daughter on Lake Superior’s coastline. A mom trying to coax her sons into the trailer and off to bed: “Now look, you’ve gotten dirty and you’ve already had a bath.” A retired couple who knew each other for years before getting together after losing their first spouses.
People with stories. People whose lives aren’t centered around what happens in New York City, Los Angeles or Washington, D.C.
It is true that the United States of America is not perfect. It never has been and it never will be. No government, no nation, no person is perfect. And I worry—a lot—about the culture my grandchildren will inherit.
The “cool kids” tell us that God’s truth is a lie. It is hateful and exclusionary. They insist that each person can create their own “truth” to fit their desires at the moment. The only anchor at hand is a fragile ego, too light to hold against a gale.
No wonder these people are miserable.
But today I give thanks that I live in a nation where I can go to church and share my faith without fear of persecution. I can write these words without wondering if my home will be raided. I can move freely between states and drink in their natural wonders and listen to the stories of those we chance to meet.
I give thanks for the United States of America. And I pray that God will continue to bless her and guide her through whatever lies ahead.
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.
"America the Beautiful”
Lyrics by Katherine Lee Bates and music by Samuel Ward
