Reflecting on "The Star Spangled Banner" and what that means now

When I last visited Baltimore in celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Battle of 1812, I got a chance to see the flag being sown by both supporters and those who played the role of the woman who sewed that first flag that Francis Scott Key saw from a ship as it flew over Fort McHenry in Baltimore Harbor.

I recalled then the story of the woman and how much time and effort she and her servants put into making the flag. (Some of it is seen here in this picture from 2010.) Today, as I recalled how the song originated and listened again to the words composed by Francis Scott Key, I realized something basic. Like we are at this present time, Mr. Key faced an uncertain future. Any number of things could have happened that night as the bombs exploded overhead and the British threatened America's future. It was only God's intervention that saved Baltimore that night. It will be only God's intervention that saves us this night. What most don't realize now is that we are in a spiritual battle more real and terrifying than any physical battle. Some would look the other way, figuring that there was nothing anyone could do to stop the forces of darkness from overtaking the world. Maybe the Lord will allow this to happen and our world will darken even more with the coming of the Anti-Christ who will promise to lift us up, only to destroy us completely. The signs are all there. No one can deny them any longer or make excuses that they can't see what is right before their faces. Yet, maybe the Lord will intervene again on behalf of the American people and keep our country whole. It will split if God doesn't intervene tonight...that's for sure.

Even if it does split because of what happens tonight....I have to believe that morning will come like it did for Francis Scott Key...Maybe....Prayerfully with the dawn's early light we will see that the country is still standing. Yet, even if it doesn't, God is with me. So I'll hang onto that now.