It's the night before the Fourth of July:
Independence Day, our nation's birthday...
Before we don our red, white and blue
and ooh! and ahh! the fireworks glory,
before the backyard grill is lit
and the potato salad spoils,
before the cooler's filled with cold beer
- and all too quickly emptied -
before all this let's stop and remember
what the Fourth is all about...
Help us keep in our minds and our hearts, Lord:
Independence was declared unanimously!
Yes, there'd been discord and yes, division
but these were let go for something far greater:
the cause of the union, the welfare of all...
Our rights as equals number three:
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness
rights declared and understood
as self-evident, unalienable,
endowed on us all
by you, Lord, our Creator...
But now in our selfish and stubborn pride:
we argue and debate the self-evident,
we deny and restrict the unalienable,
we trade our God-given liberty for
for license, profit and gain,
redefining the terms of existence,
forgetting all we have received...
Stir up in our minds and hearts, Lord,
in those who make laws and govern,
stir up those simple, self-evident truths
that long ago laid the foundation
for the beauty, the strength and the promise
of this nation we call our home...
Protect us, Lord while we're awake
and watch over us while we sleep
that awake, we might keep watch with you
and asleep, rest in your peace...
Amen.
Tonight's music for "the night before the Fourth" is a simple variation on a familiar patriotic song. Listen for how, in the second verse, the melody gives up the pain we know when we forget the source of our life, liberty and happiness - and in the third verse, how that joy is restored!
Improvisation on America the Beautiful
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