Posted by
Jer Dunlap on Wednesday, May 13, 2009 12:00:00 AM
Note: Often when I fly into a city to speak, I grab the rental head to the hotel to never emerge again - until time to work. Yet recently, flying to Philadelphia - I had to see it. I had to see the birthplace of - America. In all of my years of reading the history, loving this great country, I had never had the opportunity to witness where it all began - Constitutional Hall.
I walked where Jefferson walked.
The moment I came through the security clearance and stepped into the square - I knew I was on hallowed ground. A lump formed in my throat as I walked to the front of that old famed building. I saw where Kennedy stood and spoke. Where Lincoln had delivered his speech, was marked as well. I stood in line, waiting for the tour. And what a great tour it was. I witnessed the court room, the legislative chamber where the great documents were written, and on the second floor I saw the room filled with muskets that appeared loaded - as if waiting to be used. I was reminded of the great sacrifice these men made for our unique freedom.
And it was on the way up to that second floor, walking the steps, that it occurred to me: I'm walking where Jefferson walked. Now any one of the forefathers could have come to mind. Yet it was Jefferson's words liberty decreases when government grows that rang loud and clear in my heart.
I walked where Jefferson walked. I saw the pillars on which our freedom was built. I touched the door knobs that once opened to liberty. I saw the floors where many a man paced, knowing the dangerous sacrifice they were making. I admired the bell tour that rang in celebration of a new country, a new republic, a new way of life. And I saw those muskets. Yes, those muskets, as though loaded and waiting to defend, reminding me that freedom - always comes with a price.
I walked where Jefferson walked. And on that day, as tears filled my eyes, I was reminded of something else - Americans overcome. We have faced some great perils in the history of this great nation. We have walked the dark corridors of humanity with sometimes only a flicker of freedom to guide our steps. Americans have always overcome obstacles, surpassed odds, and quite frankly have witnessed miracles. And while our current circumstances seem the darkest ever - it is you and I who will now hold the candle of freedom - forging into the darkness, turning back the wrong, and witnessing the survival of freedom. That is what we do. This is who we are. That is America.
I walked where Jefferson walked. And quite frankly I am ready to walk there again. Not just in Philadelphia, but anywhere I must. To carry the light of freedom to a younger generation that is not sure if capitalism is better than socialism (recent Rasmussen poll). To help others see that government cannot do what the power of the human soul, the mercy of human heart, and the genius of human brain can do for them. To show the less fortunate that it can be the Faithful who have been charged to take care of the ill, the less fortunate, the orphan, the widow and those who cannot care for themselves. That government will never be able to perform the functions that only can be performed by the human soul. I will walk where Jefferson walked declaring to anyone who will listen and even to those who will not that we, borrowing from a Kennedy, will "pay any price, bear any burden" for the sake of liberty. For we are at the greatest crossroads of America since the days of Jefferson. We will walk the path of freedom - or we will follow the paths of so many others, believing that government can solve the ills only to see that government itself - is ill.
I walked where Jefferson walked.