I’lI try not to do it too often but I am gonna get kind of philosophical here. I ran across the following quote from my hero Woody Guthrie a while back.

Ever’body might be just one big soul. Well it looks that a-way to me.

Woody wrote thousands of poems in his life. Some he called lyrics and some he didn’t. This one, whichever it is, got me to thinking pretty deep. With ISIS and all that other terrorist stuff going on it seems like a big part of the world problems today is one religion fighting against another or one group of people hating another for whatever reasons. Everyone thinks they are the only ones to get it right. What if what Woody said it true?

What if all of us have just one big soul?  That seems to say to me that when we get to heaven we will be judged on how we treat the other parts of the united soul, in other words how we treat each other. It won’t really matter what religion you believe in. We are all just part of one big thing spiritual thing so as the old saying goes we sink or swim together.

Woody was a plain speaking man. I don’t know how much formal education he got but he was a very “wise” and simple guy. Another one of his sayings was the anyone who played a song with more than two chords was just showin off.

I kind of like Woody’s simplicity and how he thought….

Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I don’t imagine there are many citizens of this country who don’t know the words above by heart. They are sung at the opening of most sporting events and other public meeting.  Some even know that Francis Scott Key wrote the words about the bombardment of Fort Henry in 1814. This war was officially called the War of 1812 where the British were once again trying to get their colonies in line. 🙂

We, like most others, are a nation who is generally defined by our wars. The War of 1812 hardly makes much notice anymore. Now to finally get on to the main topic of this post, I think it is about time for us to get a new national anthem. Maybe one that exalts our virtues as a country in the 21st century instead of our wars of the past. Maybe if we can get our minds off of all our wars we can prevent a few future ones. We shouldn’t be celebrating our wars; we should be mourning them and all the dead kids that they cause.

There are at least a hand full of very likely candidates in this area but my favorite is:

This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway

I saw above me that endless skyway

I saw below me that golden valley

This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps

To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts

While all around me a voice was sounding

This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling

And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling

A voice was chanting, As the fog was lifting,

This land was made for you and me.