Capturing the Spirit of the Nation at Mekeel's Corners

Eugene Bender III, a camp musician for the local chapter of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, plays a medley of American tunes on the fiddle during a Fourth of July prayer service at the chapel On Independence Day in America, most citizens spend some time reflecting on our nation's founding documents. But unless we also seek to understand the culture that inspired those ideas, we will find it difficult to carry on their legacy.

On Saturday morning, the Fourth of July, a prayer service at the little white chapel hidden among the trees at Mekeel's Corners, where Route 301 meets the Albany Post Road, offered an opportunity to recall the spirit of our founders. As the fresh morning air entered through the open doors, the congregation sang hymns and patriotic songs. Ed Cleary, standing at the altar in front of a cross and lighted candles, led the service, which featured readings by men, women, and children from our nation's founding documents and Christian supplications to God for the nation, her leaders, and her people. Members of the Admiral Worden Camp of the New York Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War also participated.

Bugler Robert Fries, camp musician for the Worden Camp 150 Department of New York Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The service was a reminder that our forefathers did not fight for our country so that we could have a government involved in every aspect of our lives. Instead, they crafted a limited government, which, by offering a framework of freedom, would allow for citizens to prosper and flourish. For many, their most treasured freedom was the ability to worship God as they saw fit.

This country was built by men and women with strong religious convictions, developed and fortified in places such as the chapel at Mekeel's Corners.

Today we might mock the Puritan or the fundamentalist, even as we enjoy the fruits of their ideas and the liberties won by their blood. It was their stern character, coupled with their appreciation of a freedom that meant fulfilling one's duty to God and his neighbor, that gave birth to this nation. Were it not for their self-control and readiness to sacrifice short term pleasure for long term gains, America would never have achieved its independence.

Most of our founding fathers were schooled in this ethic, and in the midst of modern distractions, we would do well to take time to recall the simple faith that created our nation.

Near the end of the service, a young fiddler, Eugene Bender III, played a medley of old Civil War songs and early American tunes. The fiddle's sweet strains, accompanied by the reverent humming and light foot-tapping of the small congregation, recalled an America in which devotion to God, family, and country was palpable, and in which leisure time involved communal events, in which the community, rather than hired professionals, provided the entertainment. Some in the crowd even knew the words of the old tunes—lyrics likely not taught in schools today.

After the singing of "This Land is Your Land," a man stepped outside onto the porch with his bugle and played "Taps," which was composed by a man buried just a few miles away, Gen. Daniel Butterfied.

"Taps," which certainly has sad tones, is, on balance, a song of praise, a tribute to those who have died, and a recognition that their lives were well spent, in defense of their fellow man. Our time here in this world is limited, and our country gives us ample opportunity to use our freedom for good. Using that freedom, we should offer to quote from "Taps:" "Thanks and praise, For our days, 'Neath the sun, 'Neath the stars, 'Neath the sky, As we go, This we know, God is nigh."