For inktober day five, we’re going patriotic. I remember learning this one in grade school, probably in Mrs. Gott’s 4th grade class. I created the word “America” with stencils and gel pens. It was fun playing with the letter placement and the interior patterns. Then I stepped back and looked at the word, wondering how to add the lyrics without losing focus. I also remember my promise to make the lyrics more legible today. I decided to use print and elementary school cursive to write out the text…because by 4th grade I would have had pretty good handwriting!
Mrs. Gott would have made us stand tall and straight before we sang…I encourage you to do the same (maybe you need a good stretch!)…here are the lyrics:
Oh, beautiful for spacious skies,
– Samuel A. Ward 1903
For amber waves of grain.
For purple mountains majesty,
above the fruited plain.
America, America, God shed His grace on thee.
And Crown thy good with brotherhood,
from sea to shining sea.
No matter what you think of our current political climate, we are a very amazing country. We are blessed to live in a place where we can both sing and shout about who we are and what we want. We have freedom to speak, to choose, to give and to receive. I wondered what the author of these words would think about where we are today. It’s been over one-hundred and twenty years since these words were written, and somehow we are still not sure who we all are together as a nation.
I then looked back at my art and realized that the letter “I” stood out more than any other letter. That wasn’t intentional. It made me think. I wonder if that is our real challenge? We have so much opportunity to think, do and be ourselves – to focus on ‘I”, that we neglect thinking about crowning “thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” Somehow we have segmented ourselves in such a way that brotherhood and purple mountains majesty are elements we have taken for granted and neglected to the point of invisibility.
Let me encourage you today to give thanks for our country, your own country, or the place where you live. I am writing this at night, and plan to go to sleep once I post it. I am blessed to have a safe roof over my head, a warm meal in my stomach, people who love me, and good health. I can create, write, read and listen or share ideas with others. And all that happens in the place where I live…which is not far from those purple mountains majesty!
It is a true gift to be able to read a post, look at someone’s creative output AND to be free to comment or like it…without the fear of borders or police. Give thanks for your blessings today…and stay tuned. More Inktober fun to come tomorrow. I think Mrs. Gott would be proud of us!
