In the San Antonio airport on Saturday, there was a crowd of about thirty people with signs welcoming home Marines from Iraq. I stopped to watch as one by one, they came off the airplane into the terminal to the accompaniment of cheers, hugs, kisses and tears of joy. In their first embrace with the wife, the love was palpable. The kids were next, and the parents, and friends were there to celebrate and take a deep breath of relief. The men will not have to go back to Iraq. Huzzah. It was incredible to watch. So emotional and so poignant with the thought that these men so proudly served our country. I hope they live happily ever after.

Let’s dedicate this song today to them, in prayer and gratitude for their safe return. It is “Amazing Grace,” from the Blind Boys Of Alabama. They were actually the first group we filmed during Americana Fest in Nashville this past October, while we were doing Music Fog sessions at Marathon Recorders. The Blind Boys have been busy all fall on an extensive U.S. concert tour, including stops at the GRAMMY Museum® in Los Angeles and San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. If you are lucky, they will be performing their Christmas show, "Go Tell It On The Mountain," near you. Their latest offering is Take the High Road, a country-gospel album produced by Jamey Johnson with lots of high profile guests. An earlier recording of today’s tune, “Amazing Grace” can be found on their CD Spirit Of The Century. Here are Jimmy Carter, Ben Moore, and Ricky McKinnie, with Joey Williams on guitar and vocals, Tracy Pierce on bass/vocals, Austin Moore on drums, and Eugene Peoples on keyboards.

- Jessie Scott