Music, Patriotism, Hard Times, and Hope

I love our national anthem, especially the words but also the melody. When I ran across this rendition of the Star Spangled Banner the other day, performed at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, California, I was initially troubled by the boisterousness of the crowd and concerned that all of the American Idol frenzy might mean that the anthem would not receive the reverence it deserved. After hearing the video in its entirety, however, it seems to me that Adam Lambert's version actually may have subdued and inspired the crowd to the point where the cheers became at least as much for our country as for the singer's celebrity. I hope you'll take a moment to listen. I'd love to hear your thoughts on whether the crowd's enthusiasm for Lambert really did segue into patriotism for our country. (After you've heard it, please stick around to hear one more before reading my thoughts at the bottom of this post.)



Adam did a great job, but this is the rendition that still and always makes me cry:

Gives me the chills. Every time. It did then, and it does now.

It also fills my heart with a bit of sadness, because I feel like that was an easier, more simple period in our history. Sure, there were problems, as there always will be, but the answers seemed clearer and the consensus about their solutions greater. Today I see my children's lives touched by a level of social, economic, and political turmoil that I never had to experience as I was raising them. My prayer for them, and for all of us, is that we will all be able to harness the patriotism, pride, and determination portrayed in these quintessential moments of unity through song and bring them into our every day living. If we can––and I believe we not only can but must––then we will also be able to support and uphold the United States of America, no matter how difficult the struggle becomes.