A beautiful banner flies high overhead.
She wears thirteen stripes, of white and of red.
The white speaks of bandages, binding flesh rent and torn-
Badges of courage: proudly, sadly worn.
The red is the red of patriots' blood,
That in freedom's fought wars, often flows like a flood.
There are fifty bright stars on an ocean of blue-
Each a sovereign state, but all bound together:
"Liberty for All," the unyielding glue
The blue is God?s heaven, from where He guides us with love,
For "Old Glory's" a reflection of His plans from above.
I ponder that banner of blue, red and white,
As it waves proudly aloft: what a glorious sight!
I focus upon it, let my mind weave right through it.
I lend it an ear; I listen to it.
It cries out to me, for it must tell its story:
Of dreams and of faith - of sacrifice, and of glory.
Of men praying, that their cause be blessed-
So a nation be born where none are oppressed.
It tells of Italians, and British, and Germans:
Norwegians and Irish, Chinese and Australians.
Of peoples from ev'ry place on this earth-
Building a nation, adding to its great worth.
It tells of their toil, their blood sweat and tears-
Of their joys and their sorrows, their hopes and their fears.
But as I look and as I listen, to that banner above-
I cannot see it or hear it lest I first see the love.
For without God's love having guided this land,
And of those who strove - and of those who have died for His plan-
That flag would not have a story to tell.
It would not exist: and America, as well.