Spangled

As part of the 4th of July weekend celebration, we sang The Star-Spangled Banner as the closing Hymn at church yesterday. I really enjoy the second and third verses that are included in our Hymn book. We only ever hear the first verse sung before sporting events, etc. But the other two verses really have a lot of meaning, especially verse three. My favorite line is, "Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n rescued land praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!" -- I think that's what celebrating Independence Day is all about; remembering that "this be our motto: In God is our trust!" (another line from the third verse). It saddens me to see people out there who want to take God out of everything, including the Pledge of Allegiance. When you look at old texts such as The Star-Spangled Banner which is our National Anthem and see strong evidence of faith in God, how can you say that the Founding Fathers would want us to remove Him from our coins and pledges? They wouldn't. This country was founded on religious freedom, and the men who made it happen were believers in a higher power. We can't let anybody take that away from us. Because if we stop praising that Power that hath made and preserved us a nation, what will happen then?

On another less serious note....Rob and I were discussing the meaning of the word "Spangled" as we walked home from church yesterday. What does the phrase "Star-Spangled" mean?? We tried to come up with a definition based on context, and the best we could come up with was "scattered" or "strewn". We decided that we would re-introduce the word spangled into the world by making it part of our everyday vocabulary. "Hey honey, would you mind spangling some salt on my eggs?" ... "This room is spangled with junk. We need to clean up." etc. How disappointed we were to come home and look up the actual meaning of the word spangled, only to find that it means:
1. A small, often circular piece of sparkling metal or plastic sewn especially on garments for decoration.
2. A small sparkling object, drop, or spot: spangles of sunlight.
So I guess we can still work our new vocab word into everyday conversation, it just might be a little more tricky that's all. "My, your eyes are so spangling today." or "Wow! That be-jeweled vest you're wearing is beautifully spangled. Did you make it yourself?" Ok, maybe a bit of a stretch. And if I ever have friends who wear home-made spangled vests, please shoot me.

Anyway, have a wonderfully spangled day everyone! (there, I did it!)