CMP Review 2025-07-04

July 4, 2025

I was just eight years old when our country celebrated its 200th birthday. That entire school year we learned patriotic hymns, songs, and poetry which culminated in a star-spangled concert.

The seats of honor were filled with veterans and behind them sat our entire county—filling the bleachers, the gym floor, and spilling out into the corridor. It was 1976 and our rural community and nation were still reeling from the Vietnam War.

We students—all dressed in red, white, and blue—sang our hearts out with the audience joining in. The words, “Oh beautiful for spacious skies” rang out with a tremor that pulsed through us all and when we belted out “She’s a grand old flag” the audio technician had to take off his headset due to the volume!

Looking back, I believe the act of asking God to bless America and paying homage to the men and women in front of us, those that had gone before us, and to the emblem of the land we love brought our community great healing as we remembered our country’s core values.

Enjoy celebrating the 249th year of our nation’s birth! In the days that follow, as we gear up for its 250th, remember these words of Charlotte Mason:

But before we teach children to criticise the institutions of their country, before we teach them to be critical of what is bad, let us teach them to recognize and admire what is good. (Vol. 6, p. 126)

@rbaburina