The Real America

I have been ranting and raving for years about about the lack of real statesmen in our government these days, and like many of you I listen to the political punsters and get frustrated or angry about the side I am presently against or for whomever they are these days. But today, I watched one of most literate and funny men in the pulic eye these days on a PBS television show and he made a really profound statement - When we rise to sing together our national anthem The Star Spangled Banner politics does not matter.

We usually sing it together either just before a game, or else at the beginning of a concert. If we think about it, the song truly celebrates not the country or the land, but the people of this vast land. From the very beginnings of those small 13 colonies with those rag-a-muffin revolutionaries who despite their difference came together as one nation, right up to today and those who change our world here in the 21st century.

Whether we are Republican, or Democrat we are always first and foremost Americans, together.

When Garrison Keiller said that, I heard it reverberate through my mind and it made me realize that when we all stand, no one single voice stands out because it takes all our voices to sing it together to make us sing those words as one.

Now, granted there are often just that one famous voice who is asked to sing these verses but it becomes so much more, if we sing them together and sometimes it is in way too high a key or sometimes it can also be with tears that we sing those words.

This year, as we raise our voices remember we are drawn together as one nation. Afterall, this is the season to celebrate who we are and what we have as Americans with all the fireworks, as well as in singing our national song. Let those words wash over each in our nation and help us to celebrate our diversity, and fellowship as Americans.

Happy Fouth of July 2009 everyone!

Song's that Inspire

I'm upset about things that are happening in my life and when I'm upset I tend to turn to music to ease the pain. With my ethnic background that usually means I need a ballad, or a fast jig to get my heart back on track. Being Irish often means melancholy is a friend, but thank goodness never a very close one. Music has always been a source of peace and encouragement in times of trouble and my kids were often falling asleep to songs by the Chieftains, Clannad, or one of the Irish American groups from around the country.

Today there are so many good Celtic or Irish groups right here in the States and I have to say I enjoy many of them. There are songs that sooth, and those that bring on a strong sense of who I am, but whatever I like invariably ends up on my iPod today. (In the past I have been known to create by own compilation tapes to listen to, or sing along with over and over again.) I don't know when I discovered that for me music could be a force to gain strength from in any emotional moment, but I'm glad I learned of it's power in my life. I can find peace, strength, or even simply a sense of where I am in my jumbled up world on a daily basis.

Today, I need a song's power and peace because I don't feel very powerful, or very peaceful either. But for me, the songs that ring true are the songs that say that if we stand together, "shoulder to shoulder," so to speak so we can gain strength from each other's energy.

One such song has been in my heart repeating over and over lately. It remind me that I may feel alone, but I'm not. I guess you might call it my rallying cry right now, but it is also one that is the song that in the game of rugby stands strongly for a country that has separate nations but the same team that faces that sport's world. "Ireland's Call," by Phil Coulter is a real uniting force. And right now it's mine too. (http://www.irishlegendsrugby.ie/anthem.php)