And it was a place of great hope and it was a beacon to apartheid South Africa that it could leave apartheid and become a multiracial democracy.

NPR: 'Where We Have Hope': A Journalist on Zimbabwe

Through hard work and perseverance my father got a scholarship to study in a magical place, America, that stood as a beacon of freedom and opportunity to so many who had come before.

CNN: Obama: Time to reclaim America's promise

For more than two centuries, this nation has been a beacon of hope and opportunity -- a place that has drawn enterprising men and women from around the world who have sought to build a life as good as their talents and their hard work would allow.

WHITEHOUSE: My Fellow Americans

The two pieces form a stainless steel beacon weighing almost 6 tons and will be the final piece put in place to give the building an iconic height of 1, 776 feet, a statement from the Port Authority said.

CNN: Final pieces hoisted atop 1 World Trade Center

That might not be so strange if the emblem of the club wasn't a golf flag in a map of the U.S., or if Payne didn't claim the club's mission was "to be a beacon in the world of golf, " or if it wasn't anathema to speak about the place with anything but reverence.

WSJ: Matthew Futterman: An Upper West Sider at Augusta