How beautifully and inspirationally our National Hymn ends. Like the best of hymnody, it invites solemnity, submission, and supplication.
Too often, as with many memorized recitations, we forget the depth of meaning: a call to submission to the lofty ideals the words express and the invocation of prayer that we might make our country ever more worthy of what we proclaim.
There is such beauty in the sight of physically powerful men – and those who join them – in the attentive position of kneeling – the very meaning of which is submission and prayer.
I am grateful for the inspiration.
monagustafsonaffinito 