Bless My Homeland Forever
I haven’t blogged here in months. With all that’s been going on in our county, I guess I’ve been shell shocked. My values haven’t changed nor have my convictions. However, I suppose I have been disillusioned by the sheer audacity of the political class in Washington, D.C.
However, tonight I was watching a movie with my children. We were watching The Sound of Music. If you aren’t familiar with the underlying story, it deals with a widower and his children who are caught up in the politics of pre-Nazi Austria, all set to music. The widower, Captain VonTrapp, is a famous hero in the Austrian Navy and is being pressured by the local Nazi party and ultimately by the Nazi high command to sail for the German Navy. Captain VonTrapp is fiercely loyal to Austria and resents everything the Nazi’s represent. He completely understands the underlying treachery of the Nazi party. He does everything but outright refuse to take a command in the German Navy, to which the Germans attempt to force him into submission. He finds the occupation of his homeland so repugnant that he openly defies Nazi authority and destroys the Nazi flag displayed upon his house (without his permission).
This recurring theme is emphasized throughout the movie by a simple but powerful song, Edelweiss. It is sung twice by the Captain, once for his children and the second in front of a music festival attended by several hundred of his fellow Austrians, prominent members of the Nazi party and local Austrian politicians who are Nazi sympathizers. During the second performance, the Captain, being openly defiant of his Nazi overseers, becomes overcome with emotion by the situation facing his homeland. His voice falters. His family and the audience step in, pick up the song, and begin singing in unison, all to the chagrin of the Nazis in attendance.
It is a very moving moment in the movie and reminds me very much of the troubles we are experiencing here. However I can’t help but believe in the old saying that life imitates art. I believe that we are in the Edelweiss phase of our country.
Here are the lyrics. They are very simple and, as written, don’t have much in common with our country. Its the context in which they are sung that is relevant. As our country goes through these trying times, please sing them to yourself and carry the meaning in your heart. It isn’t about the words, its about the sentiment they represent. When it is time for you to pick up the mantle and stand up for the values and principles upon which our country was founded, please, please do so.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
Those of us who hold the traditions of our republic and the virtues upon which it was founded as sacred, need to find our Edelweiss. When one of us falters in carrying the tune, others must step in to take up the song. We must do what is necessary, no matter how difficult, no matter how painful, no matter how sacrificial. It is the only way we will get our country back. I implore you to Stand up. Please, stand up!
