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By Bobby Ross Jr. | Religion Unplugged

PHILADELPHIA — My 7-year-old grandson, Bennett, donned a red, white and blue top hat like Uncle Sam.

He grinned as he posed for a picture with his father, Brady, outside Independence Hall, where delegates to the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.

But I’m not certain Bennett grasped the full significance of Philadelphia at the Semiquincentennial — I think I spelled that right — the 250th anniversary of America’s founding.

“I don’t want to wait in that long line just to see a bell,” my grandson said of the Liberty Bell.

His grumbling made me smile.

We were in the City of Brotherly Love to enjoy America’s favorite pastime and decided to explore a bit of our nation’s history while here.

I was close to Bennett’s age on July 4, 1976, when the U.S. marked the Bicentennial.

Read the full column.

This column appears in the online magazine Religion Unplugged.

Photo provided by Penny Stafford Eubank