Janet W. Smith – Copyright 2013
It’s not that we have lost our love
Or sunk to candor’s low,
Or that we pity some—not all,
And loveless keep our faith so small,
Of course, we care
Of course, we care
Of course, we see the need,
It’s that we’ve lost our way, our ship—
Our sails are torn asunder,
And when the wind begins to blow
Our course we cannot know.
For lust has grounded she who sailed
So mighty in the earth,
And power-drunk, she sits aground
No longer in the Way.*
Yet still…
Of course, we care
Of course, we care
We just forgot the “how.”
Oh may this mighty ship return
To She** who saw our first,
And grab the lines that keep us strong
And find our anchors there.
America! America!***
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.
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* “The Way.” Jesus is the Way. John 14:6 NIV, “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'”
** “She” is Wisdom. Proverbs 4:6 NIV, “Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.”
*** Lyrics from “O Beautiful for Spacious Skies” by Katherine Lee Bates, 1859-1929.