Touching the Liberty Bell
A bell that makes no sound still rings true. Not as a molded hunk of metal but a symbol of the ideals of liberty and freedom that inspired the founders of the United States of America.
And yet, I was totally unimpressed until the docent at the museum offered to pull bak the rope and let me touch the waiting bell on its display podium. He gave me a set of gloves to put on and Rita guided me to the hard, curved surface.
I knocked on the metal a couple of times. No sound. I felt the long indentation of the famous crack. The seeming flaw just brought my tactile exploration to life as I traced the indentation.
I thought about what it is to touch something and be touched by it, to get up close and personal with something the way the signers of the Declaration of Independence put their names to paper and risked their lives for the dream of a republic that honored liberty.
I’ve heard about the Liberty Bell many times. But to make contact with it, even without it making a sound, impacted me in a way I would never have expected. I wondered what else in my life was waiting for my deeper, more personal exploration. What else was floating in the ethers of my idealism and dreams waiting to be actualized by my own hand…
Woo hoo! I was there with you in your description of touching the bell and feeling the liberty of our land pulsating thru your veins!
Thank you for sharing this experience.