Mrrzy and Susan,

that's the first thing I wondered, too. It does rather sound like a prayer directed, if not to God, at least to some larger-than-thou Being involved in keeping the sun properly situated relative to the USA. Of course, it has the advantage of being well known and sounding pretty patriotic. If the latter is an advantage.

Being a theist, I've always been a bit perplexed at how non-theists can, for example, "be grateful" for things that appear to me to be gifts of God, but I recognize that non-theists can and do have gratitude for things without necessarily positing a target for their gratitude (and that there are often other possible targets besides God), but these lyrics do look hard to explain in a satisfyingly non-theistic way. Mrrzy? (Or is this the reason you want an alternative song for the event?)

Liland