We are friends with a family whose young adult son was a prodigy as a child. He played the piano brilliantly and had an incredible memory. He excelled in school so much that he was admitted to University when he was 15. As a teenager he played for a concert at our church at which he demonstrated his amazing memory by playing the national anthems of countries around the world. Members of the audience submitted the names fo countries which were drawn from a hat and read in random order. As the name of each country was read, he played the national anthem of that country. In an effort to stump the young musician, audience members named some quite obscure countries. When one country was named, he announced that that country had no national anthem. My role during the concert was to sit at a computer and do an Internet search of each country’s national anthem as he spoke and played, to check his accuracy. As far as I could discern he made no mistakes at all. It was an amazing experience.

I, on the other hand, don’t know the national anthems of very many countries. I know “God Save the Queen,” now “God Save the King.” That song ends with the hope that England will remain a country of laws: “May he defend our laws, and ever give us cause, to sing with heart and voice, God save the King.”

I also memorized the words to the Canadian National Anthem, at least the English words. The official anthem has English, French, and Bilingual versions. And the words were changed since I memorized the anthem to make the song a bit more inclusive. That anthem ends with an appeal to deity: “God keep our land glorious and free! O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.”

Our national anthem, on the other hand takes a different note. It ends with a question. In fact, the song has three questions. It begins with two questions: “O, say, can you see by the dawn’s early light what so proudly we hail’d at the twilights’ last gleaming?” and “Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight o’er the ramparts we watch’d were so gallantly streaming?” After a phrase declaring that the flag was still there, the song ends with a final question: “O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

I wonder if it says something about our national character that we so frequently sing questions about our flag and our nation. I’ve been thinking of the words to that song, especially the question with which it ends recently. I think it is a legitimate question. Does our star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

Last Thursday, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old was shot once in the head and once in the arm when he knocked on the wrong door. He was sent to pick up his younger brother at an address on 115th Terrace. Instead he went to the same address on 115th Street. He went to the front door of the home and rang the bell twice. The 84-year-old owner of the house where he rang the bell responded with gunfire.

On Saturday evening, four young adults were trying to find the home of a friend in rural Washington County New York. They mistakenly drove up the wrong driveway. Before any member of the group could exit the car, a man opened fire on the car. A 20-year-old woman, who was a passenger in the car was killed.

In both incidents, there clearly was no threat from those who ended up at the wrong address. No threat existed, and yet, homeowners were so frightened that they felt that they had to use lethal force to defend themselves.

I don’t know the details of either situation. One news story that I read said that the homeowner who shot the 16-year-old had previously experienced some vandalism. I know nothing of the man who shot and killed the young woman, except that he was 65 years old. However, it certainly seems to me that both of those men were acting out of fear and that fear caused them to make tragic and irreversible mistakes.

I can go on and on with examples of out-of-control fear that is a part of everyday life in our country. The politics of fear involves big money and can influence the outcome of elections. Campaign ads play to the fears of people. In fact politicians intentionally try to stir up fear in attempts to motivate voters. The so-called culture wars are about people who are afraid that their way of life is somehow threatened by people who are different than themselves, who hold different beliefs, or who see things from a different perspective. The governor of Florida is so threatened by a corporation that expressed disagreement with a bill he signed into law that he is attempting to take over the business and drive its leaders out of the state. It is a stunning display of fear, if you ask me.

Of course you didn’t ask me. I’m offering my opinion without its being solicited. My opinion is that that examples of fear are easy to find in the news of our country. Much of that fear arises in situations where no threat exists. People are afraid and they act out of fear.

“O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?”

Some days, when I read the news headlines it seems to me that the banner now waves over a land with people who are barricaded, isolated, and trapped in their homes living in fear.

I think it is healthy for us as a country to continue to gather and sing our anthem while saluting our flag. The questions it raises are worthy of our attention and consideration.