Invocation, Not Proclamation

Life is good proclaims this morning’s coffee mug. And on the other side, Do what you like. Like what you do. It’s a good coffee mug, thick and heavy, sturdy, stable, exactly like mugs I drank coffee from a thousand mornings in warships at sea. Except for the writing, it’s a Navy mug. Good one. Hard to knock over. Hard to break, not fragile. On chilly mornings it keeps my coffee warm longer.

America, America, God shed his grace on thee, prays a national hymn, and crown thy good with brotherhood ... and mend thine every flaw. It’s a prayer, not a proclamation. The word shed is not past tense, proclaiming what God has done and gone. Shed is an invocation parallel with crown and mend -- we’re praying about America, for God to work with us ...

... (may) God shed his grace on you ...

... (may) God crown your good with brotherhood ...

... (may) God mend your every flaw ...

God has not done it to America and gone, finished and moved on; we’re still a mess. In “America the beautiful” we pray that God will shed, and will crown, and will mend. Amen.

Life is good.

Amen.