praying for the USA

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

Oh beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majestiesAbove the fruited plain.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Oh beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassioned stress.
A thoroughfare of freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

Oh beautiful for heroes proved
in liberating strife
Who more than self their country loved,
and mercy more than life
America! America! May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness, And ev'ry gain divine

Oh beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years.
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America! God shed his grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

Original "Materna" hymn MUSIC written in 1882
by New Jersey musician Samuel Ward.

Poem/Verses written by Katherine Lee Bates,
an English teacher at Wellesley College
while visiting the top of
Pikes Peak in 1893.

TSA you make my day!

I remember Boise Airport security checkpoint before fear and dehumanization. From the time I was 17, returning from over-seas travel, until 2001, I was proud of the guards and scanners who donned crisp uniforms, boutineers and genuine concern. They were caring and respectful.

These people have been replaced by machines of fear. Oh, they look like people, but I am convinced they are machines. This morning I traveled throught the Boise Airport again.

The Southwest folks were friendly, even when my luggage was overweight and they could have been impatient, I joked with them and they caught my humor with a smile. I still had to pay they $25 charge, but they handled my error with respect and humor.

All expectations of being treated as a human should be checked, however. I took off my shoes and put them with my purse and coat into a small grey bin. My laptop went into the next, and my backpack came last. I made sure to keep my boarding pass out; I had previously been reprimanded for not having it handy. As I was motioned to walk through the metal detector, the scanner lady-machine panicked.
"Miss!!!"
I calmly looked to see to whom she was referring and it was me. What disaster had I caused?
The scanner lady-machine was no engaged with the walker lady-machine "I tried to catch it in time." The walker lady-machine looked into the scanner and immediately pulled out my laptop.
Oh, that was it. Something about the laptop. Maybe they want me to turn it on. I think in Omaha they wanted me to take it out of the bag.
"You don't fly much do you, honey?" walker l-m demeaned.
"Regularly." I said
"Like where?" she challenged
"I was just in Omaha."
"Oh, well we'll have to report them for their lax security."
I was trying to tie my shoes and gather my other scanned items and figure out what she was so angry about.
"You have to ALWAYS take your computer out of its case." ALWAYS. I guess I haven't flown with a laptop in a while.
" Do you need me to turn it on?" I asked and reached toward my laptop
Yanking the laptop out of my reach she said "I have to do it."
"Okay, just tell me what to do." I tried to calm her.
She walked me down to the end of the conveyer belt and swiped the computer with a circluar pad, then took it up to be scanned again. She told me what she was doing using very small words. I'm 29, I look young, but even teenagers shouldn't be demeaned.
Walker man-machine brought my laptop back but laid it on the other side of the kiosk instead of just handing it to me. "So now you know to take out your laptop?" he asked in a tough voice.
I ignored the rudeness
He tried the question again, but I just turned and smiled at the man sitting next to me.
"Well do you?"
"In Boise?" I queried
"Anywhere."

As I boarded my flight, my name was paged. A Southwest flight attendent kindly informed me that TSA had just removed a can of Fix-your Flat Tire from my checked luggage. Okay, I hadn't realized that was on the no-no list. My mistake.
"Thanks." I said. The flight attendant had been professional and kind, even joked that the TSA officer might have needed the can more than I.

I'm not so sure the can would help slashed tires.

And when I arrived to Portland - no luggage there to great me. TSA you make my day!