June 26, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Friday, June 26.
Are you excited about the Semiquincentennial? That’s a mouthful! I’m talking, of course, about our nation’s 250th anniversary - just a week away. Maybe you’re old enough to remember where you were when America celebrated her 200th birthday, the Bicentennial. I was 19, with a year of college under my belt, and no clue whatsoever about what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I had recently started a band that showed some promise and had played some venues around Houston, my hometown. I, and my five band mates, had a rehearsal that afternoon of July 4, 1976, and afterward we piled into my Chevy van and went downtown to see the fireworks. My life was still in front of me - my marriage, my children, my call to the ministry. For me, it was a time to look forward.
As we get older, we spend more and more time looking back. Thinking about next weekend’s national milestone has made me a bit nostalgic. It has also made me more than a bit concerned about what kind of future a 19-year-old American faces today. But then I remember that the period of the Bicentennial was one of great change and crisis and challenge. War (Vietnam) and government turmoil (Watergate) had just recently been put in the national rearview mirror. The inflation rate was high, and the rising cost of gasoline was a hot topic that summer. Sound familiar? America found a way to work through all of that then, and I am hopeful that we will find a way to work together now, for the future of our country, for our children’s future.
Next week, to prepare for the special patriotic holiday, we’ll look at the stories behind some of our favorite patriotic songs.
Meet you back here on Monday,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
