Land That I Love

As the year rolls over to 2012, I think we all look with a mixture of hope and apprehension at the year that is unfolding.  In keeping with that mood and with great affection for America, the land that I love, I whisper prayers tonight for her well being and healing from the wounds of war and division that have been with us throughout this past decade.  

Here are a few famous quotes that make me think of all that is good and noble about America.

“Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. 

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

 And when this happens, 

when we allow freedom to ring, 

when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, 

from every state and every city, 

we will be able to speed up that day when 

all of God's children, black men and white men, 

Jews and Gentiles, 

Protestants and Catholics, 

will be able to join hands 

and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 

"Free at last! Free at last! 

Thank God Almighty, 

We are free at last.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. 

 I Have a Dream Speech, August 28, 1963

“Let every nation know, 

whether it wishes us well or ill,

 that we shall pay any price, 

bear any burden, 

meet any hardship, 

support any friend, 

oppose any foe, 

in order to assure the survival 

and the success of liberty.

John F. Kennedy, Inauguration, 1961

“Freedom is never more than 

one generation away from extinction. 

We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. 

It must be fought for, 

protected,
and

 handed on for them to do the same.”

Ronald Regan, 40^th President of the United States

“There are those who look at things the way they are,

 and ask why. 

 I dream of things that never were and ask why not?” 

George Bernard Shaw, as often quoted by Robert Kennedy




In this New Year, I pray


for many things that are dear to my heart, but  


Especially for the beautiful land of the free that is


my homeland.


Let there be peace on earth


and let it begin with me...