01/07/2026
“The Sun is Rising.” Franklin, Jacob’s Ladder, and America’s Precarious Inception. The chair in the distance, in The Assembly Room within Independence Hall, was General Washington’s. At the top, a sun is depicted, carved into the wood. Benjamin Franklin asked himself, during deliberation over the wording of the Declaration of Independence, and whether or not to fight England for the cause of Freedom, if the sun was rising, or setting, on America, and Freedom. He determined that the sun and the future of America, were in fact rising. In our own lives, we are either rising or setting. Climbing, and moving towards worthy goals, improving ourselves and the lives of others, or we are moving backwards, wasting our opportunities. And if you think you are simply standing still, neither growing nor regressing, you’re not. As everything progresses around you, if you stagnate, you are moving backwards. When fleeing his brother Esau (danger) to the House of Laban (more danger), Jacob had a vision. Behold! Angels ascending and descending a ladder. They were not still, as one does not remain still on a ladder for long. One is either ascending or descending the ladder. So too in life, we are not meant to stand still, clinging to one rung of a ladder. And the vision, the encounter with “The Divine,” occurs for Jacob when he is fleeing danger, about to encounter more. It is often in these periods of fear, uncertainty, confusion, we attain the most clarity, “a vision,” so to speak, insight, and solutions to the challenge. Philosopherdoc.com
