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BUT IF NOT

7/28/2013

This past Sunday morning, I shared a message titled Everyday Heroes. It was based on the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, the three Hebrew children whose story is recounted in Daniel 3. As a part of my message, I recounted the story of “The Miracle of Dunkirk”.

The source for my story is a piece titled "But if Not", taken from the Presidential Address of Dr. Robert B. Sloan, Jr. to the students of Houston Baptist University on February 18, 2009. Later, he posted the story on his personal web page (Cf. his blog dated Monday, March 11, 2013).

Many people inquired about the story, so I am reposting it here. The source page is linked at the bottom of this blog entry.

Dr. Sloan writes:

Did you know that a Bible verse once helped save the British army? Up until the 20th century, nearly the entire English speaking world used the King James translation of the Bible. We all shared a common text. People were also more Biblically literate than most are today, so if you quoted a Bible verse people would usually recognize the reference. Bible stories like those in the book of Daniel were very familiar.

I wrote about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in my last two posts. These young men were given a choice:  they could bow to a pagan idol, or they could be thrown into a fiery furnace.  They courageously chose to face the furnace rather than disobey God’s commandments.

I love the way the King James Bible puts their answer to the king: “Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, let it be known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up. (Daniel 3:17-18)”

“But if not.” What a poignant phrase. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were resolved to obey God, whether or not he chose to save them. They knew he wasn’t obligated to help them.

In the summer of 1940, more than 350,000 soldiers—most of them British—were trapped at Dunkirk. The German forces were on their way, and they had the capacity to wipe out the British Expeditionary Force. When it seemed certain that the allied forces at Dunkirk were about to be massacred, a British naval officer cabled just three words back to London: “But if not.”

“But if not.” These words were instantly recognizable to the people who were accustomed to hearing the scriptures read in church. They knew the story told in the book of Daniel. The message in those three little words was clear: The situation was desperate.  The allied forces were trapped. It would take a miracle to save them, but they were determined not to give in. One simple three word phrase communicated all that.

For some reason, people are still not sure why, the Axis powers hesitated. They backed off, briefly, and what’s known as the Miracle of Dunkirk took place. British families and fishermen heard about the poignant telegraphed cry for help, and they answered.  They answered with merchant marine boats, with pleasure cruisers, and even with small fishing boats. By a miracle, they evacuated more than 338,000 soldiers and took them to safety.

I’m very sorry to say that, by and large, the scriptures are not faithfully taught today, even in many Christian pulpits. We get some interesting pop psychology and leadership exhortations, but it is fairly unusual to enter a Christian church and hear the minister take a piece of scripture, read it, explain it, teach it, and apply it. I challenge you to recover the significance of scripture in your life.

I exhort you, if you’re going to be a minister, or a lay reader, or a Bible teacher of any sort, teach the scriptures. I exhort you as a follower of Jesus Christ, let your life, your heart, your character, and your worship be shaped by the word of God.

SOURCE:  http://robertbsloan.com/2013/03/11/but-if-not-the-miracle-of-dunkirk/.   SEE ALSO:  http://shelboese.org/
whip-you-with-scorpions/

THE JOY OF CHILDREN

7/24/2013

I spent some time with my sister this week.  A year older than me, she is now a grandmother. Every time I talk to her, she is dying to tell me some new thing her little three year old grandson has said or else done. Admittedly, her stories are funny. In light of this, I thought I would post a piece today that celebrates the joys of childhood.

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Kevin, 5, and Ryan, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, "Let my brother have the first pancake. I can wait." Kevin turned to his younger brother and said, "Ryan, you be Jesus!"

A father was at the beach with his children when his four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore, where a seagull lay dead in the sand. "Daddy, what happened to him?" the son asked. "He died and went to Heaven," the dad replied.  The boy thought a moment and then said, "Did God throw him back down?"

After the church service a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money."  "Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?" "Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, "Would you like to say the blessing?" "I wouldn't know what to say," the girl replied. "Just say what you hear Mommy say," the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, "Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?"

A mother was teaching her three-year-old The Lord's Prayer. For several evenings at bedtime, the child repeated it after the mother. Then one night the child was ready to solo. The mother listened with pride to the carefully enunciated words, right up to the end. "And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us some e-mail..."

A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages. "Momma, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered: "I think it's Adam's suit!"

Six-year-old Angie and her four-year-old brother Joel were sitting together in church. Joel giggled, sang, and talked out loud. Finally, his big sister had enough.  "You're not supposed to talk out loud in church." "Why? Who's going to stop me?" Joel asked. Angie pointed to the back of the church and said, "See those two men standing by the door? They're hushers."

A father was reading Bible stories to his young son. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city, but his wife looked back and was turned to salt." His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

A three-year-old boy went with his dad to see a litter of kittens. On returning home, he breathlessly informed his mother, "There were 2 boy kittens and 2 girl kittens. "How did you know?" his mother asked. "Daddy picked them up and looked underneath," he replied. "I think it's printed on the bottom."

Another three-year-old put his shoes on by himself. His mother noticed that the left shoe was on the right foot. She said, "Son, your shoes are on the wrong feet." He looked up at her with a raised brow and said, "Don't kid me, Mom. They're the only feet I got!"

On the first day of school, about mid-morning, the kindergarten teacher said, "If anyone has to go to the bathroom, hold up two fingers." A little voice from the back of the room asked, "How will that help?"

A mother and her young son returned from the grocery store and began putting away the groceries. The boy opened the box of animal crackers and spread them all over the table. "What are you doing?" his mother asked.  "The box says not to eat them if the seal is broken" the boy explained. "I'm looking for the seal."

We laugh at these things because, for children, everything is so simple. And then again, maybe this is how it should be. Ironically, perhaps, we may have unnecessarily complicated life as adults.  It may just be that, the simpler life is, the better off we are.

Certainly, this is true in the spiritual realm.  For after all, Matthew 18 records a wonderful conversation Jesus once had about children:

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”   And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

The Heavenly Father obviously delights in the childlike faith and trust of His children. No doubt, few things bring Him more joy!

SOURCE:   http://www.naute.com/inspiration/askkids.phtml.

ELIMINATING THE LIGHT

7/22/2013

In his book, Cross Ties Devotionals, Bill Denton recounts an old story that carries a powerful truth. It is the cautionary tale of a desert nomad who was reclining on his cot one night out in the middle of nowhere.  He was inside his tent and it was very dark.  He had a candle burning beside his bed that gave off just enough light to see his immediate surroundings.  Presently, being hungry, he selected a date from his fruit bowl and bit into it.

When he did, however, he found a worm, or at least half of one. He lay the date aside and took another date from the bowl and bit into it. Once again, he discovered another worm.  This troubled him greatly, as he was hungry, and especially as he liked the taste of the dates.

What should he do?  He thought it over and came up with a solution. He leaned over and blew out the candle. Then, there in the darkness, he quickly ate the rest of the dates.

Wow! Imagine a man who was so driven by his desire for fruit that he willingly turned off the light so as not to see the danger his eating it posed.  The lesson of this little parable is self-evident:  we must be careful not to allow our appetites to rule our reason.

While this truth applies to everyone, it is especially relevant for Christians. We, above all people, must remember not to let our appetites overrule our convictions. And this is true whatever these appetites be - physical, emotional, financial, sexual, or any other type.

In short, what we believe must always determine how we behave, and not vice versa. We must be ruled by the standards of God’s Word, which do not change according to the vicissitudes and/or dictates of any given situation.

This means that whether we choose to acknowledge the morality (or lack thereof) of any given activity is irrelevant. What is relevant is what God’s Word has to say on the subject.   In short, turning off the light to make the activity more palatable will not change the effect that our engaging in it will have on our souls. What it is, to be frank, is what it is.

Remember that the next time you are tempted to blow out the candle of conscience.

SOURCE:    http://books.google.com/books?id=YluJa0AqoO8
C&pg=PA231&lpg=PA231&dq=eating+dates+candle+worms&
source=bl&ots=GxWAV7dAj-&sig=DfQ8vto0Tjcz_AaewL2ylKd
WgO0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cTDsUeiiFYXm9gSok4DYBw&ved=0CC
oQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=eating%20dates%20candle%20wor
ms&f=false.

CHRISTIAN ONE LINERS

7/18/2013

In my summertime travels, I have found one thing to be fairly constant. Church signs everywhere tend to contain little single sentence sermons.  Now, many of these are quite humorous.  Others are more serious. Most all are thought-provoking.

In my blog today, I thought I would share a few of them. Enjoy...

Don't let your worries get the best of you;
remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited,
until you try to sit in their pews.

Many folks want to serve God,
but only as advisers.

It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose,
but bedbugs and mosquitoes come pretty close.

When you get to your wit's end,
you'll find God lives there.

People are funny:
they want the front of the bus,
the middle of the road,
and the back of the church.

Opportunity may knock once;
but temptation bangs on the front door forever!

Quit griping about your church;
if it was perfect, you couldn't belong.

If a church wants a better pastor,
it only needs to pray for the one it has.

We're called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.

God Himself doesn't propose to judge a man until
he is dead. So why should you?

Some minds are like concrete:
thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

Peace starts with a smile.

I don't know why some people change churches. What difference does it make which one you stay home from?

Be ye fishers of men. You catch 'em - He'll clean 'em.

"Stop, Drop, and Roll" won't work in Hell.

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

Don't wait for six strong men to take you to church.

Forbidden fruits create many jams.

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

God grades on the cross, not the curve.

God loves everyone,
but probably prefers 'fruits of the spirit'
over 'religious nuts!'

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

He who angers you, controls you!

If God is your Co-pilot, swap seats!

In prayer, don't give God instructions, just report for duty!

The task ahead of us is never as
great as the Power behind us.

The Will of God never takes you to where the
Grace of God will not protect you.

We don't change the message,
the message changes us.

You can tell how big a person is
by what it takes to discourage him/her.

I saved the best one for last:

The best mathematical equation ever seen:
1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

SOURCE:    Such collections of sayings are found on multiple web sites. Example:  http://thinkgodnow.com/gpage5.html.

GETTING AROUND

7/15/2013

There is a time-honored story that is often told about a certain conversation that took place between two pieces of common currency.  It seems that…

A well-worn one-dollar bill and a similarly distressed twenty-dollar bill both arrived at a Federal Reserve Bank to be retired. As they moved along the conveyor belt to be burned, they struck up a conversation.

The twenty-dollar bill reminisced about its travels all over the country. "I've had a pretty good life," the twenty proclaimed... "Why I've been to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the finest restaurants in New York, performances on Broadway, and even a cruise to the Caribbean..."

"Wow!" said the one-dollar bill. "You've really had an exciting life!"

"So, tell me," says the twenty, "where have you been throughout your lifetime?"

The one dollar bill replies, "Oh, I've been to the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian church, the Baptist Church, the Lutheran Church ..."

The twenty-dollar bill interrupts, "What's a church?"*

Many people travel this time of the year. As a pastor, I do not begrudge folks the opportunity to get away for a little while. Hopefully my previous posts have made plain that I understand the value of rest and relaxation.

At the same time, it is important to remember that the work of the church continues even in our absence.  Her ministries, here missions commitments, her programming - all these things continue throughout the vacation season. In fact, in many respects, with children’s programs, student programs, and the like, the church actually has greater demands on her limited resources in summertime than in other seasons of the year.

No matter where you attend worship, I hope you will be faithful to support the ongoing work of your church throughout the year, and especially during the good old summertime.  Most all of us get a vacation; the church and her ministries do not.

*SOURCE:  This joke has been around quite some time. Of course, the message it contains is no doubt responsible for its longevity.  It is available widely, both in publication and on the World Wide Web.  One such example is:   http://www.turnbacktogod.com/jokes-one-dollarand-twenty-dollar-bills/.

UNSTRUNG

7/11/2013

The Gospel of Mark (6:30-31, NIV) records the following story: “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught.  Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

As He always was, Jesus was wise here to point out the importance of a little rest. “R&R”, as we call it, can do wonders for a person’s spirit.  People have instinctively understood this principle down through the ages.

Years ago (June 6, 1994, to be exact), the devotional publication titled Our Daily Bread carried the following anecdote that had first been recorded over 2500 years ago. It regards Aesop, the ancient Greek slave whose Fables are so renown, and it well underscores the importance of rest.

In ancient Athens, a man noticed the great storyteller Aesop playing childish games with some little boys. He laughed and jeered at Aesop, asking him why he wasted his time in such frivolous activity.

Aesop responded by picking up a bow, loosening its string, and placing it on the ground. Then he said to the critical Athenian, "Now, answer the riddle, if you can. Tell us what the unstrung bow implies."

The man looked at it for several moments but had no idea what point Aesop was trying to make. Aesop explained, "If you keep a bow always bent, it will break eventually; but if you let it go slack, it will be more fit for use when you want it."

People are also like that.  That's why we all need to take time to rest. In today's Scripture, Jesus prescribed time off for His wearied disciples after they had returned from a prolonged period of ministry. And in the Old Testament, God set a pattern for us when He "rested from all His work" (Gen.2:3).

Shouldn't we take His example seriously? Start by setting aside a special time to relax physically and renew yourself emotionally and spiritually. You will be at your best for the Lord if you have taken time to loosen the bow.*

My wife and I have spent the last few days doing just that.  We have unstrung our bows and relaxed a little. Already, I can tell a huge difference. Already, my spirit is refreshed; as is hers.

During this time of summer vacation, I trust you will also take  some time to unstring your bow. Get out from under the tension for a little while. You will be glad you did. Your strength will return. And your aim is sure to be truer in the days ahead.

*SOURCE:  http://www.actsweb.org/articles/article.php?=170
3&d=2&c=13.

WORTH KNOWING

7/8/2013

Recently, I received the following list of trivial items by e-mail.   I cannot necessarily account for the validity of many of these things. But I enjoyed reading them nonetheless. Perhaps you will as well.

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times. (Of course, I don’t know how anyone has actually measured either of these things!)

Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years.

Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.

If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

Each year 2,000,000 smokers either quit smoking or die of tobacco-related diseases.

Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

The song, Auld Lang Syne, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the New Year.

Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent.

Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450F.

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Nine out of every ten living things live in the ocean.

The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man.

Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

The University of Alaska spans four time zones.

The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

Warner Communications paid $28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

A comet's tail always points away from the sun.

The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent.

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers. That is why it is found in some medicines.

The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight.

In ancient times, strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.

Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the
outside.

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year.

The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.

Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters.

Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy.

Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down.

Everything weighs one percent less at the equator.

For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off.

The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.*

Wow! I didn't know most any of this. And yet, it strikes me that, in the world in which we live, we are bombarded with so much information that no one person could reasonably be expected to be read up on everything. And what is more, most of the information that does come our way is quite useless. Indeed, only a few things are vitally important to know.

Which leads me to my point: most all of the above trivia falls into the former category.  It is interesting, to say the least. But critical?  Hardly.  While I love trivia, I could probably live out most of my remaining life and never really need to know or else benefit by any of this information.

By contrast, God’s Word gives us several key truths that are essential for everyone to know and understand. These are found in Pauls' Letter to the Romans in the New Testament of the Bible, and are often collectively referred to as the "Roman Road to Salvation". Here they are:

“As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.’”
Romans 3:10-12

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 3:23

“For the wages of sin is death…”
Romans 6:23a

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8

“…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 6:23b

“…for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be
saved.’”
Romans 10:13

“If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Romans 10:9-10

Not only should these truths be known; they should also be embraced and acted upon. I hope you will read them again. And as you do, I hope you will seriously consider their relevance for you and your life. Embrace them.  Take them to heart. Act upon them. For more than any other truths, these really are worth knowing!

*A WORD ABOUT SOURCES: I attempted to find the source of this piece of trivia.  It is posted on the web at various sites. See   http://www.husky-owners.com/forum/topic/54352-triv
ia/.  Obviously, individual pieces of the trivia, such as the ones involving scientific or historical information, are posted on more authoritative sites which are devoted to given fields of knowledge.

A FLAG OF RAGS

7/4/2013

John McCain, U. S. Senator from Arizona and one time Republican Party Presidential Nominee, was a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy who went on to become a naval aviator, flying ground-attack aircraft from carriers during the Vietnam War. He was almost killed in the horrible fire that occurred aboard the USS Forrestal in 1967.

Later that year, Captain McCain was flying a bombing mission over Hanoi, the capital of North Vietnam, when he was shot down.  Seriously injured, he was taken captive, where he was held as a prisoner of war for the next five and a half years.

Along with numerous other prisoners, he experienced recurring episodes of horrific torture all throughout his imprisonment.  In spite of this, we are told, he refused all out-of-sequence early repatriation offers. Sadly, however, lifelong physical limitations have accompanied him as a result of his brutal internment in the infamous “Hanoi Hilton”.

Twenty one years later, in a speech given before the 1988 Republican National Convention, then freshman U.S. Senator McCain related the following story.

As you may know, I spent five and one half years as a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. In the early years of our imprisonment, the NVA kept us in solitary confinement or two or three to a cell. In 1971 the NVA moved us from these conditions of isolation into large rooms with as many as 30 to 40 men to a room. This was, as you can imagine, a wonderful change and was a direct result of the efforts of millions of Americans on behalf of a few hundred POWs 10,000 miles from home.

One of the men who moved into my room was a young man named Mike Christian.

Mike came from a small town near Selma, Alabama. He didn't wear a pair of shoes until he was 13 years old.  At 17, he enlisted in the US Navy. He later earned a commission by going to Officer Training School. Then he became a Naval Flight Officer and was shot down and captured in 1967.

Mike had a keen and deep appreciation of the opportunities this country-and our military-provide for people who want to work and want to succeed. As part of the change in treatment, the Vietnamese allowed some prisoners to receive packages from home. In some of these packages were handkerchiefs, scarves and other items of clothing. Mike got himself a bamboo needle. Over a period of a couple of months, he created an American flag and sewed on the inside of his shirt.

Every afternoon, before we had a bowl of soup, we would hang Mike's shirt on the wall of the cell and say the Pledge of Allegiance. I know the Pledge of Allegiance may not seem the most important part of our day now, but I can assure you that in that stark cell it was indeed the most important and meaningful event.

One day the Vietnamese searched our cell, as they did periodically, and discovered Mike's shirt with the flag sewn inside, and removed it. That evening they returned, opened the door of the cell, and for the benefit of all us, beat Mike Christian severely for the next couple of hours. Then, they opened the door of the cell and threw him in. We cleaned him up as well as we could.

The cell in which we lived had a concrete slab in the middle on which we slept. Four naked light bulbs hung in each corner of the room. As I said, we tried to clean up Mike as well as we could. After the excitement died down, I looked in the corner of the room, and sitting there beneath that dim light bulb with a piece of red cloth, another shirt and his bamboo needle, was my friend, Mike Christian. He was sitting there with his eyes almost shut from the beating he had received, making another American flag.

He was not making the flag because it made Mike Christian feel better. He was making that flag because he knew how important it was to us to be able to pledge allegiance to our flag and our country.

So the next time you say the Pledge of Allegiance, you must never forget the sacrifice and courage that thousands of Americans have made to build our nation and promote freedom around the world. You must remember our duty, our honor, and our country.

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Amen! And may God look after and bless all those who have sacrificed so much to make the rest of us free!

SOURCE:   http://www.truthorfiction.com/rumors/m/mccain-flag.htm#.UdQ-msfD85s.  Note that this story occurs in several variations on the internet; but that it is deemed true by most all websites specializing in matters relating to issues of veracity. Check also:  http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2008/jul/02/chain-email/fellow-pow-acks-up-mccains-story/. (Note: If the politifact site defaults to its home page, just key in POW FLAG in the search bar.) See as well http://www.snopes.com/rumors/soapbox/McCain.asp.

LAND THAT WE LOVE

7/1/2013

Yesterday morning, in my message, I made reference to one of the most enduring patriotic songs ever penned - Irving Berlin’s God Bless America, which includes the famous line: “God bless America, land that I love…”

In 1940, we are told, a young folk singer by the name of Woody Guthrie (yes, the father of folk singer Arlo Guthrie of The City of New Orleans fame), was fresh off of his travels crisscrossing the nation during the Great Depression.  He had been listening to Kate Smith’s version of God Bless America as it received extensive radio play on the eve of World War Two.

While he admired the song, he thought that he himself could pen one equally as powerful in its ability to evoke national pride.  From his perspective, however, he wanted to create a song that spoke to the heart of the common man. As a result, he sat down and wrote what was to become another classic piece of American patriotism: “This Land is Your Land”.

As a child, I grew up singing this song in school on a fairly regular basis. I can still remember the images that the lyrics conjured in my mind.  It made me proud to be an American then; and it still does today.

As we approach our nation’s 237th birthday, I thought I would post those lyrics here today. If you are like  me, you may find it hard simply to read these words without singing them as you do. Either way, I hope they evoke wonderful images in your head. And I hope they inspire you as much as they do me.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND
by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled, and I followed my footsteps
To the fir-clad forests of our mighty mountains
And all around me a voice was calling,
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

NOTE: Though long dead himself, Woody Guthrie does have an official website. It is: http://www.woodyguthrie.org/. Through the years, many copyright issues have apparently arisen over his works.  Guthrie, himself, it appears, as a champion of the ordinary man, was less concerned with this matter than others.

Wikipedia’s article on Guthrie point out that a number of different organizations currently claim copyright for many of Guthrie's songs. Apparently, legally, such claims only apply to original elements of the song that were not in the public domain version we all know and love.

In any event, the article includes this quote from Guthrie himself: “This song is Copyrighted in U.S., under Seal of Copyright # 154085, for a period of 28 years, and anybody caught singin it without our permission, will be mighty good friends of ourn, cause we don’t give a dern. Publish it. Write it. Sing it. Swing to it. Yodel it. We wrote it, that’s all we wanted to do.” (sic)   (Cf.:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood
y_Guthrie).   See also:    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_L
and_Is_Your_Land.