To the editor:

“O beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America!

God shed His grace on thee

And crown thy good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!”

If you’ve gotten out much, you’ll know that “spacious skies” can be found everywhere in the world. And for a single non-American example of “amber waves of grain” on “fruited plains” look no further than Ukraine, where they’ve been growing abundant wheat for thousands of years. And as to “purple mountain majesties,” check out Europe’s Alps, Africa’s Atlas and the South American Andes before blowing your mind away with the majestic Himalayas. Without working too hard you can find a dozen other mountain ranges to match our Rockies.

The “grace” God has shed on America is none of these mere things — things shared in abundance across the planet.

But “brotherhood,” is that abundant? And the “rule of law” to which a brother is entitled? Or “due process” before taking a brother’s precious freedom or property? And speaking of “freedom,” is it found everywhere, to think and speak making possible other freedoms; to teach and learn? Is it today — or ever — to be found in North Korea and Russia? Or Saudi Arabia or China? Or in Amsterdam as the Frank family were pulled from their hidden apartments for butchery in Auschwitz?

“His grace,” and the crowning good, is “brotherhood”; our only chance for “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

A thing now, we so carelessly cast aside.

William Skepnek,

Lawrence