I have always been attracted to the stories and the characters that were a part of the establishment of the United States. From an early age I loved learning about the great people that helped birth our country. I consider it a great blessing to be living in one of the cities of the American Revolution, Philadelphia. When I’m walking on the cobblestone streets in the section of Philadelphia that was inhabited by Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson and a host of others, a fife and drum song from the 1700’s pops in my head and I find myself whistling the tune. These characters come alive for me, and I imagine walking through the city with Ben, Alexander, Tom and George.
So when Peter Bort and Elizabeth Frumin invited me to join them for a Light Column, prayer and blessings event at some of the places frequented by the Founders of the United States, places that were critical to the formation of the United States, and to coordinate that with the annual spring visit of the Traveler John Morton and the MSIA staff, I volunteered faster than a Colonial Militiaman!
This service project would come at a good time: given July 2026 commemorates the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States; the scheduled Traveler visit to the east coast of the US; and a time in the USA and world where it might really benefit having more Light and love blessing the original intent that motivated the USA’s independent union from England.
There are so many places in Philadelphia where the intentions of the founding fathers were formulated, recognized and clarified. So which places to choose?
Independence Hall was an obvious choice. The Declaration of Independence was debated and signed there. This is where the early representatives of the American government met and where the Constitution was signed. That was an easy choice. But what about Freedom House — where Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence? The Liberty Bell? The presidential home of George Washington and John Adams? Benjamin Franklin’s Home? Carpenter’s Hall, Betsy Ross’s home? (Many early American government meeting places). They are all within an easy walk. We had an abundance of options that we could whittle down.
On a moderately damp, cold and snow-covered day in February, Elizabeth and I went to the city to explore our possibilities. Our hunch to include Independence Hall was a good one. There is an abundance of open space to gather, National Park Rangers to guide us and most importantly, public bathrooms were available half a block away!
Freedom House was closed for repairs. We then walked a half block to Franklin Court, where Benjamin Franklin lived and worked. My intuition was jumping with certainty that this was a place to visit.
A third option was the Constitution Center, a museum dedicated to the history and application of the Constitution. Another option was Carpenter’s Hall, where many early meetings of United States representatives occurred.
As we discussed our research with Peter Bort, he proposed we go to the Museum of the American Revolution. He enthusiastically reported that there is a program at the museum with a display of George Washington’s war tent — the actual tent where Washington lived and strategized the Revolutionary War. Peter’s enthusiasm won us over and this became our third site for our visit and Light.
Julie Lurie recommended we put together an itinerary with specific times and locations for John Morton’s approval. I readily confess, I am not a detail-oriented person and patience is not one of my virtues. Guess what Spirit had on my curriculum to learn? Cooperation, Acceptance and Patience. So, with Elizabeth and Julie’s help and many, many, many drafts later, an itinerary was approved by John.
As we were planning this, I envisioned there would be about 10 people participating in this event. When I planned a Light Column event when Pope Francis came to Philadelphia a few years ago, that’s about how many people participated. That was a great success and Pope Francis’ time in Philadelphia was a unique combination of safety, fun and reverence. However, as the word got out to the MSIA family that our living Traveler was joining us, the numbers grew. MSIA Ministers from all over the U.S., new folks to MSIA, and children as young as 2 years old were on the 32 people participant list!
It was decided that it would be a good idea to provide an agenda to everyone participating; but not one as detailed as the one approved by John Morton. Rosemary Swade was a great help in planning this. Not only is she a veteran planner of Traveler trips, she also offered a unique outsider’s perspective. For example, everyone who has lived in Philadelphia knows where Independence Hall is — just as everyone in Philadelphia can take you to at least 3 places to get a good cheesesteak! — I theorize, it’s a skill that comes from breathing the air here. Rosemary was great in that she asked for details (Ugg, there’s that D word again.) Her input would help someone from out of town get to our first meeting place and support all with the flow of the event.
The day finally arrived. It was a joy for me to put faces on people I only knew from emails and texts. Roger Wakefield distributed the remote radios to everyone, allowing us to hear without a speaker yelling. Ah, the wonders of technology and gratitude that MSIA has supported and embraced this technology so enthusiastically.
We all then experienced a brief adventure of going through security and circled up again for some instructions and comments, anecdotes and words of wisdom from John Morton and Leigh Taylor-Young Morton. We also had an opportunity to listen to the guides share information about the building and what went on there.
The months of planning and ironing out details paid off. What a feeling of elation as I looked around the circle and saw our living Traveler with some of my dearest friends. We planted and created Light columns around and through the Independence Hall Courtyard — blessing the country. We fed those blessings expressed at the founding of the country: Independence, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. We infused them into the Light Columns and exploded them throughout our country and the world for the highest good.
We next took a 5 minute walk to the Benjamin Franklin Courtyard. This is the site of Franklin’s home, bookshop and print shop. Peter Bort invited us to tear back the veil of time and embrace the essence of the amazing man that was and is Franklin. John Morton also invited us to be silent and breathe in the Spirit and fun of this great man.
Many of us wanted to spend more time with Ben. However, we had an 11:00 AM appointment at the Revolutionary War Museum to experience George Washington’s War tent so onward we went. Yes, the tent truly was the actual physical tent in which George Washington lived and worked. We watched a short but inspirational presentation about how the tent was preserved and arrived at the museum in Philadelphia. Seeing the actual tent gave many of us chills.
After the show we had some time to see the rest of the museum exhibits before joining together for a final, beautiful peace prayer led by Elizabeth Frumin. We came together for a group photo (Thank you, Jsu Garcia) and went away full of the Light of the Holy Spirit and a revolutionary inspired attitude of Light and Love.
Ongoing blessings to the USA, our countries and our world. May peace prevail more and more for the highest good and with God’s grace.
