America The Beautiful

America the Beautiful

Bible Blast: Read Psalm 24

The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him. For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths. Psalm 24:1-2

Katharine Lee Bates taught at a college in Massachusetts. In 1893, she and some other teachers went on a trip to Colorado. While they were there, the group took a trip to the top of Pike’s Peak. (Pike’s Peak is 14,115 feet high. That’s over two and a half miles!) They took a wagon up most of the way but had to ride mules to get to the very top. When Katharine got to the top, the view was so awesome it inspired her to write the poem “America the Beautiful.” Later on it was set to music and became one of America’s favorite songs. Each verse describes the beauty of our country, and each chorus is a prayer for America. Read some of the lyrics of “America the Beautiful,” and think about what Katharine might have been seeing on top of that mountain in Colorado.

O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee,

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

O beautiful for heroes prov’d

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.

Girl Gab: Have you ever been inspired by nature? Look out the window of the room you’re in right now. Do you see any of God’s creation that makes you realize how amazing God is? Thank God for creating such a beautiful country.