“The Star-Spangled Banner” was written by Francis Scott Key in 1814 during the War of 1812, after he witnessed the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry following a 25-hour British bombardment. The poem was set to a popular British tune and gained popularity over time. It was designated the official U.S. National Anthem in 1931.
At the beginning of each football game on Thanksgiving Day, we are invited to pause and join in the singing ––
O say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hail’d at the twilight’s last gleaming,
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight
O’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bomb bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
When Francis Scott Key wrote those words, he was not celebrating an easy victory or the comfort of unity. He was watching a nation being tested in the dark. The flag wasn’t gently waving in a peaceful breeze. It was being ripped and torn by war. The question at the heart of that first stanza isn’t “Look how strong we are.” It’s “Are we still here? Are we still who we say we are?”
That question is just as alive today in 2025 as it was in 1814.
The rockets and bombs in Key’s night sky weren’t only weapons. They were illumination. They allowed him to see the flag when everything around him was smoke and chaos. In the same way, the tensions and polarization of our country right now are revealing what we still need to work on and protect. Conflict doesn’t automatically destroy a nation. Sometimes it shows us what matters most.
Here are a few guiding thoughts drawn from the stanza:
1. “O say can you see…” reminds us to look carefully before we speak.
Key doesn’t start with a statement. He starts with a question.
In a time of loud voices, quick reactions, and instant outrage, it is powerful to ask these questions once again:
Can you see the good in the person who disagrees with you?
Can you see their story, their love for family, their hopes, their fears?
Can you see beyond the slogans, the talking points and the labels?
Polarization thrives when we stop asking and stop seeing.
2. “Whose broad stripes and bright stars… through the perilous fight” asks us to remember that freedom has always been difficult.
America has never been perfect or painless. Our history is full of struggle.
But our identity isn’t built on ease.
It’s built on choosing courage over resentment, principle over convenience, hope over despair.
The flag waves not because the night is calm, but because people keep holding onto it.
3. “Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there” teaches us resilience.
There are dark nights in a nation’s life. We may be living through one right now.
But the question is not whether the night comes.
The question is whether we hold onto what is worth saving through the night.
Evidence of our unity is not found in agreement.
It is found in the fact that we still believe America is worth struggling for.
4. “The land of the free and the home of the brave” is not a description. It is a calling.
We do not inherit freedom. We practice it.
We do not possess courage. We choose it.
Being free means respecting the dignity and voice of others, even when we disagree.
Being brave means refusing to give up on each other or on our country.
So the question of the Anthem remains ours today:
Does the star-spangled banner yet wave?
Not on a flagpole, but
In us.
In our conversations.
In our willingness to listen.
In our determination to be citizens, not spectators.
In our choice to hope rather than to tear each other down.
The flag waves when we hold onto the belief that we are still one people with a shared destiny.
And that is something we each can choose, every dawn, in our own hearts.
By Medard Laz
Please think of the above words this Thanksgiving as YOU join in, sing our National Anthem and watch the football games.
IT IS NOT GREAT MEN AND WOMEN WHO CHANGE THE WORLD, BUT WEAK MEN AND WOMEN IN THE HANDS OF A GREAT GOD!
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