God Bless America , Land that I love . Stand beside her , and guide her Thru the night with a light from above . From the mountains , to the prairies , To the oceans , white with foam God bless America , My home sweet home .
— Irving Berlin
Spiritual Column God Bless America
By Pastor Theola Campbell , Blessed Assurance Ministries , Inc . NAMCO Community Involvement / Public Relations Committee Chair
Pastor Theola Campbell
God Bless America , Land that I love . Stand beside her , and guide her Thru the night with a light from above . From the mountains , to the prairies , To the oceans , white with foam God bless America , My home sweet home .
— Irving Berlin
The words of this familiar song could double as a prayer . Look closely - the song is asking God to bless America ; and anytime you talk with God or talk to God you are praying ! Irving Berlin penned this version of God Bless America in 1938 from his previous version originally written in 1918 . He revised the song because war was threatening to break out against Europe and he wrote this as a “ peace ” song . These words are still quite appropriate for us to beseech God for our “ home sweet home .”
If we take a few moments to reflect on the blessings that we as Americans enjoy today , we can see that God has been true to the request that the words of this song invoke . We have the freedom to speak our minds , educate ourselves , work for ourselves , work for others , marry who we want , serve in the military ( providing we qualify ) and worship as we please , just to name a few . Thank God for the blessings we enjoy in this “ home sweet home .”
But our “ home sweet home ” may not have been in the position to be the land freedom that we are today if it had not been for the men and women who serves in our United States Armed Forces . The officers and enlisted personnel of the Marines , Army ,
Navy , Coast Guards , Air Force and National Guards provide us the protection we need to enjoy what God has given us ; our freedom ..
The military realizes the significance of God ’ s presence in the fabric of this country ’ s existence and in the lives of our soldiers . Because the United States of America embraces religious freedom , this intrinsic truth makes room for all faith traditions to express their connection with God . Our military has a faction intentionally designed to encourage this connection with God as well as to address the spiritual well-being of its personnel . They want to make sure opportunities are available for those who want to connect with God , whether they are currently stationed on a base or deployed . The faction is known as the Chaplain Corps and they are present in every branch of our military .
The chaplain ’ s purpose is to connect with the diverse spiritual beliefs and faith traditions of both enlisted and officers and encourage them to maintain their relationship with God . These men and women in the Chaplain Corps are well educated , well trained and endorsed by their denominations or their faith traditions . The military chaplains provide services for the Protestants , Muslims ,