Independence National Historical Park, in the heart of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, encompasses the key historic landmarks of the beginnings of American democracy. People from almost every nationality, age, and walk of life come here to see the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the National Constitution Center, and the homes, meeting halls, churches, and neighborhoods of America’s Founding Fathers.
At the height of tourist season you get the feeling there’s something quite special here that many are looking to reconnect with. To rediscover some fundamental truth about what effective government should be—as in that well-known line from America’s Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Those words bring out an often overlooked aspect that was clearly in the thought and actions of many of those who shaped American democracy: the underlying acknowledgment of God as the true authority, power, and governor of mankind. Reading through examples of what many of these founders wrote about prayer and God’s hand in their individual and collective efforts, shows how often they sought God’s guidance to gain strength, wisdom, patience, flexibility, and clarity of purpose.
