I realize “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written over one hundred sixty years ago and at the time held great significance related to the American Civil War. But I believe the song is no less important or relevant today than it was then. Nor less significant.
“The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was written by the abolitionist writer Julia Ward Howe in November 1861 and first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1862. The song links the judgment of the wicked at the end of the age with the American Civil War.
“Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword His truth is marching on, His truth is marching on“
So, yes this song is as significant today as it ever was. Today we are fighting an evil that is greater than any faced in the past. We are facing our final battle. The battle that will determine not how we will live in the future, but if we will survive, if our children will know peace and prosperity. What we do today will determine if there is a future.
“I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps His day is marching on”
We are fighting a global war, not on terror as our prior president’s wanted us to believe. We are fighting a greater evil. We are fighting for the existence of good. Of love.
“In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free While God is marching on”
So, while each of us struggles to find our place, our voice, in a world that is censuring us more and more, let’s remember we are all in the same boat, and it’s going down. We need to set aside our differences today and work together toward the common goal that is our existence, our freedoms, our ability to be who we were meant to be, and to save our Republic.
We in the united states of America have been deemed the light for the world as represented by the Statue of Liberty (“I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”) If we allow that light to be extinguished, what message do we send to the rest of humanity? Pick up your torch and fight. Light the world with your love. Don’t let yourselves be manipulated by those that live in the shadow. Don’t go there. Step into the light. Be the light.
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