This coming September 11th will mark the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America. And inasmuch as our country (as well as the rest of the free world) is experiencing some pretty tough times right now, I feel compelled to say some things about the land I love. But before I do, I want to share with you an experience that to this day has had a profound impact on me.
I didn’t have much of a patriotic spirit until I began toying with the idea several years ago of writing a book about the interdependence of freedom and character and what I saw as the erosion of the best aspects of western culture. While doing initial research for this work (which to date remains unfinished and unpublished), a melody began to play incessantly in my brain. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it truly haunted me, day in, day out. My intuition told me it was a patriotic piece, and the words “America, my home” needed to accompany certain notes. But other than that, I had no idea what to do about what would soon become an obsession.
I had never written a musical composition before, let alone contemplated doing so. So, the fact that I was being hounded by this melody and feeling an inexplainable pressure to do something with it made me feel more than a bit crazy. One day, I confided my inner turmoil about both the stalled book project and the unrelenting tune in my brain to my brother, who challenged me: ”Just what is it exactly that you think you have to say?” I replied that I believed that my country’s real greatness resided not so much in its military might or economic prowess, but in people of good character, who take seriously the principles upon which it was founded, honor its promise with their actions, and make the very survival of freedom possible. It was my fear, I continued, that the country would fall from greatness if the character decline I saw taking place continued. People would let greed, indifference, self-centeredness, attitudes of entitlement, behavioral license, irresponsibility, etc. erode the best things about us, and our most important character-fostering institutions would crumble. Even worse, in an attempt to legislate a minimum level of morality, laws will be passed that will both impinge upon our freedom and even further saddle those already shouldering more than their fair share of the burden for making the society work. This really scared me, and I wanted to inspire others to embrace the unique American dream in their hearts, to take its core principles seriously, and to honor its real promise with our actions (or as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so poignantly stated, “to live out the true meaning of its creed”). We’ve been blessed beyond measure, I asserted. We simply can’t take it all for granted. The price some have paid to keep the dream alive has been far too high. I want to touch people’s hearts and tell them we can save the dream but we have to do it by converting one heart at a time. Good people will have to rally and those who’ve fallen away will need to be lured back into the fold. ”Okay,” said my brother, “then say that!”
As anyone who’s ever composed before knows, putting your most ardent sentiments to words and music is a most daunting task. I am no poet. But my wife is, and a darn good one at that! So, with constant prodding on my part and with her artful help, lyrics for the song were finally completed. And after many months of trial and error with respect to the right instrumentation and arrangement, and after finding just the right voice for the lead vocal, the melody that haunted me for 7 years finally became the song I envisioned.
With the anniversary of 9-11 approaching, it’s important to remember not only the thousands who lost their lives that day, but also where the greatest threat to any country and its greatness really lies. So, I want to say to those who love their country and the ideals it purports to represent: you are the heart and soul of the nation; you are what will make it work or cause it to crumble; and it’s up to you to keep the dream alive. We have been both blessed and cursed with the unprecedented degree of freedom. So, the values we profess to cherish are our individual responsibility to preserve and uphold. For reasons too vast to fully enumerate, character really does matter, and how great we are as a people is completely dependent upon what kind of persons we are individually. And what’s made this whole grand experiment in freedom work has always been the day-to-day actions of conscientious folks. It’s the mom who graciously donates her time as scout leader. It’s the dad who coaches after work to help build character in the young boys on the team. It’s the parents and children working together in 4 H. It’s the compassionate kindness of those who truly live the faith they profess in church on Sunday. It’s the enterprising young men and women who start businesses and treat their workers justly. It’s the parents who care enough to instill sufficient character in their children that their school is free to concentrate on teaching them reading, writing, and arithmetic. The greatness of America lies within each individual heart.
As a helping professional, I’ve been more that a little disheartened by the character crisis plaguing our culture. I know that it’s not just responsible for so much of the psychological unhealthiness I’ve had to witness all too often but also the economic, political, and social ills that have beset us. Our fiscal woes are directly traceable to greed and unscrupulousness, reflected in Ponzi schemes, phony securities ratings, deceitful bookkeeping, etc. And what people will do and say these days to amass or keep political power, well that’s a whole other story! So, as the day for solemn remembering approaches, I urge all to bear in mind the terrible cost many have paid for the freedom we enjoy, and ask that we all challenge ourselves to be the kind of persons who make the system work instead of the kind who takes all they can get before the system collapses.
The first public performance of America, My Home occurred five months before the 2001 attacks. The day after the tragedy, a staff person at one of the regional TV network affiliates who had heard it and was touched by it, arranged for it to be paired with a video montage depicting the week’s historic events. The video then aired after every newscast for the rest of the week, allowing people by the thousands to be exposed to it for the first time. It also prompted many singers from every state to request permission to perform the piece at patriotic and civic events, thus carrying its message to thousands more. Recently, improved orchestration has been added to the montage and the video posted on YouTube (two prior versions are also posted). So, if you are inclined to do so, I invite you to listen to this latest rendition of America, My Home and open your heart to its message. I long ago realized that something much bigger than me was responsible for planting the seed in the first place and is guiding its growth. I’ve also come to realize that much of what is troubling America right now is happening in almost all corners of the free world, so we must all become carriers of the message and keepers of the promise. Hopefully, hearing this tune might touch and inspire any of you who treasure freedom and realize what it takes to sustain it. We simply must be better than we have been of late. Each and every one of us. Fathers and mothers, sons and daughters. If we’re not, freedom will undoubtedly be lost and our grand experiment relegated to the ash heap of history. I don’t think I could bear it. I love my country way too much.
More information about America, My Home! (including permission for performance rights) can be found at the following links:
http://www.drgeorgesimon.com/americamyhomesong.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_bMpGrG2d8
