Breathes there the man with soul so dead...

As I think about America's Independence Day celebration this week for the 4th of July, my thoughts turn toward this excerpt of Sir Walter Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel:

Breathes there the man with soul so dead

Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native land!

Whose heart hath ne’er within him burned,

As home his footsteps he hath turned

From wandering on a foreign strand!

If such there breathe, go, mark him well;

For him no minstrel raptures swell;

High though his titles, proud his name,

Boundless his wealth as wish can claim

Despite those titles, power, and pelf,

The wretch, concentred all in self,

Living, shall forfeit fair renown,

And, doubly dying, shall go down

To the vile dust from whence he sprung,

Unwept, unhonored , and unsung.

Our prayers go out to those patriots who honor their country with service in our military, and to those family members who wait expectantly for the day when their loved one's footsteps are turned toward home.

God Bless America!!

I Salute YOU on Veteran's Day, 2009

Here's a great big THANK YOU to all those who have chosen to serve their country in the military. And I'd also like to thank all those family members, who are left behind to deal with everyday life while they are missing their loved ones, for your sacrifice. There's no possible way that I can imagine what you go through each day.

But my prayers and thoughts on this Veteran's Day go out most emphatically to those of you whose family members paid the ultimate measure of devotion to their country, their lives. We are free because of them, and no amount of thank you's can be enough.

Since they sacrificed so much, I pray that their blood will not have been spilled in vain. I pray that our President will give our troops the support they need ... or bring them home.

Amen