Making It In America

I get so used to reading about offended people in the newspaper or on the internet.  That picture offends me.  Their words offend me.  They said God in a Christian context and I was offended.  And the list goes on and on……so it was with interest that I watched something happen tonight.

Tonight I went to a dinner that was well attended by many people.  Most of them were from the good old United States.  A fair share came for our northern neighbor, Canada.  Our entertainment for the evening was a group of men who, for fun, get together every week and sing barbershop-style music.  They played a diverse set of numbers from ‘Goodnight Irene” to their closing song, “The Irish Blessing.”  The song that caused me to take notice was the second to last song.

They started out telling us that they were going to “do something” on the first part of the song and then we were to join them on the second part of the song.  Then they began singing “God Bless America.”  As the audience got into the song, they rose to their feet.  I noticed all the Canadians in the group.  They, too, rose from their seats and they, too, did their best to join us in singing.  I looked.  Not one face looked offended.  No one needed to make a comment.  No one remained seated.  They didn’t have to sing.  They didn’t have to stand up.  We would have understood.  It seems there was something bigger about them than about the touchy headliners we read about.  It seems that they know that, when the song is done, they will still be Canadians.  Nothing will be lost because they allowed us to sing about God blessing our country and no offense was meant to their country.  Maybe we could learn something from them!