Prayer for the New Year

For Thy guidance all the way
Through the New Year, Lord, we pray,
And in deep humility
Pray for speedy victory.
Let us hear it sung again:
"Peace on earth; good will to men."
Let this year see nations freed
Once again from war and greed.
On the home front help us keep
Faith with those in plane and jeep.
On the land and on the sea
Fighting for our liberty.
Bring them back, whom we hold dear,
Early in this hopeful year.

This poem / prayer was written by Nancy Richey Ranson . . . who was Poet Laureate of Texas from 1941 'til 1943 . . . it was published in the Dallas Morning News on January 1, 1945 . . .

Christmas 150 Years Ago

Even with all the sorrow that hangs,
and will forever hang, over so many households;
even while war still rages;
even while there are serious questions yet to be settled -
ought it not to be, and is it not,
a merry Christmas?
Harper's Weekly, December 26, 1863

This is a Time for Remembering

According to a book by Louise McHenry Hicky entitled Rambles through Morgan County, Georgia, she describes this land of some of my ancestors as . . .

This is Gone With the Wind country . . .
The world is still beautiful, filled with wonders;
the sky is blue,
the flowers still bloom,
and birds warble in the magnolia trees. . . .

There was a time when peace reigned
and life was leisurely,
and beautiful
and romantic.

Then came a war between the States,
when all this beautiful living
was gone with the wind. . . .

This is a time for rememberng. . . .

Flag Day 1917

This postcard from my private collection is postmarked June 20, 1917. On June 14, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson gave the following speech in honor of Flag Day.





This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is the emblem of our unity, our power, our thought and purpose as a nation. It has no other character than that which we give it from generation to generation. The choices are ours.

It floats in majestic silence above the hosts that execute those choices, whether in peace or in war. And yet, though silent, it speaks to us, speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went before us, and of the records they wrote upon it.

We celebrate the day of its birth; and from its birth until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high the symbol of great events, of a great plan of life worked out by a great people.

Woe be to the man or group of men that seeks to stand in our way in this day of high resolution when every principle we hold dearest is to be vindicated and made secure for the salvation of the nation.

We are ready to plead at the bar of history, and our flag shall wear a new luster. Once more we shall make good with our lives and fortunes the great faith to which we were born, and a new glory shall shine in the face of our people.