We sing this hymn around the patriotic holidays of Memorial Day and Independence Day.  I also incorporated it around 9/11. I know I am past Independence Day, but I want to celebrate our freedom all month. Each of the Third Verse Devotions this month is patriotic in nature.

While every verse of the song is poignant and can cause reflection on the beauty and wonder of our nation verse three is a testament to those who have sacrificed much for this land of liberty. By way of note, I pull the hymns for the Third Verse Devotions from the 1991 edition of the Baptist Hymnal. You can find it here at www.hymnary.org.

Katharine Lee Bates wrote this song after climbing the top of Pike’s Peak. Inspired by the vista below she penned these verses. I think we can understand where she was coming from. I have never stood on Pike’s Peak, but I can imagine the view having seen vistas from lesser high points. Ms. Bates had been a high school teacher and a professor at Wellesley College in Massachusetts. She never married as at that time women who married were required to resign their tenure at the college. She wrote poems, books and was in demand as a speaker. America the Beautiful is perhaps her best-known work.

I have only found four verses for the song. The Methodist Hymnal 1989 moves the verse I want to focus on to verse four. The Baptist Hymnal 1991 and most of the other hymnals I looked at all have the verse as verse three.

O beautiful for heroes proved
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life!
America! America!
May God thy gold refine,
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev’ry gain divine.

This country was fought for with the blood and vigor of men who became heroes because they believed in what they stood for. Our armed forces today are still made up of men and women who are willing to become heroes in some way for this country. “Who more than self their country loved.” They are willing to give themselves for this country on the battlefield wherever it may be. There was a rise in enlistment after Pearl Harbor and again after 9/11. When our country is under attack there is a spirit that rises to defend her. When she is at peace, that same spirit is there to make sure that peace remains. I fear that there is a serious lack of patriotism among some of our people today. Our country means nothing to these individuals and those that have given their lives so they can express their hatred seems in vain. These individuals are not heroes proved in liberating strife.

This verse makes clear who the heroes are. Those who are willing to put their lives aside for their country. Those who are proved on the battlefield. Those who stand for what is right. A belief so unshakable that America is the greatest nation. Their state is the greatest state. Their town is the greatest town. Their school is the greatest school. Their family is the greatest family. Look to find heroes at the smallest level. How do they treat their family? Heroism begins small and grows from there to the battlefield of life.

Stand for what you believe. Be a hero to your family. Do what is right. Be proved a hero in the strife that comes. Stand strong and firm. Love your country. Love your family, more than your life. Be a giver of mercy. You are part of a great nation. Make it greater by your actions. In Micah 6:8 we have this admonition:

He has told you, mortal one, what is good;

And what does the LORD require of you

But to do justice, to love kindness,

And to walk humbly with your God? (NASB)

You want to be a good person? A hero? It starts with faith in God and a willingness to set yourself aside. Here in Micah we have an outline for three ways to live your life. Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God. If we all try to do these three things we would see America beautiful again. All success be nobleness and every gain divine. God bless America.

Angela