God started to bring people on my trolley. I had two blind people from London and several others who had aids get on my trolley all in one day. Two Harley Davidson bikers got on the trolley and we talked about how so many manufacturing jobs went overseas. Many of their friends lost jobs. I talked to a visitor from Bristol, Tennessee who said his whole town had been devastated by the economy. Sailors celebrated their graduation from training on my trolley. We all cheered. Groups of young people heading towards the beach cheered after I talked about America.

We had some bad storms downtown. Maybe, it started with the White Sox game. My wife and I saw a strange fog coming from the lake on an east wind coming over the stadium onto the field. We had never seen something similar. I thought it was a sign. A driver during the summer saw a beautiful sign in the sky and asked me if it meant something. She thought it was from God. I do believe God sometimes sends us a sign of his presence. Sometimes, things just happen. A tornado touched down two blocks from my trolley at Logan Square. I was working a dinner party and even was invited to eat with the guests. My boss called me and told me to get out of the trolley because he could see that the storm was so bad at base. We had 60,000 lightning strikes that night. It set a record. On another day we received over 6 inches of rain in one day. Remnants of Hurricane Ike came up from Texas to hit the city. I worked the Green Tie Ball that night which was held to raise money for greenery for Lake Shore Drive.

A lot of people came downtown on the Fourth of July. I talked about the importance of not always giving a lecture but helping people get from one place to another. People used to really help one another out years ago. We had perfect weather. One driver kidded me by saying “Phil, its your birthday today.” No one man could change this nation, it would take a lot of people coming together. I gave a talk about America to a group of young people on the trolley. I told them the importance of getting involved because it is their future. I drove the group from LaSalle Street station to the Water Tower. They sang songs all the way up Michigan Ave to the Water Tower. After our trip, they left my trolley at the Water Tower. The group walked over to several people that were holding signs that said “free hugs.” The people with the signs were giving others free hugs. The group of young people hugged the people with the signs saying “Love, from Freedom Phil.”

My song “Gently on the Plain” played around the world at radio stations on a radio CD that was called “Rescue Me.” The song was sung by Bobby Smith. “My world was turned upside down, but you rescued me.” During the summer, I was working with a recording engineer from Bristol, Tennessee. He was in good health until a few months ago when everything seemed to become inverted in his eyesight. He went to the doctor to receive medication for vertigo. He told me how he had only a part time job that he worked for a few hours everyday.

People were also starting to get a little restless. We had a war protest downtown at night when 500 young people drove downtown in the loop naked on bicycles. Taxi drivers were honking everywhere. A helicopter and fire truck had to be brought in for crowd control at an Of a Revolution concert. Near the Fourth of July, several drivers and I went down Wacker Drive, when we noticed a taxi driver. I wished him a happy Fourth, however, he didn’t respond. The trolley drivers asked, “Phil, why did you wish him happy Fourth of July? You know taxi drivers are trolley driver’s enemies.”

It was time to “start the new day.” A light started to warm my face and come up over the horizon. Soon, my trolley would hit the road. I would greet the “morning star” and the many people coming on board that day.
The “Morning Star” is my journey. My light of faith towards a distant shore. It starts with the confidence and the willingness to learn from those around us. It starts with history. It starts with belief and surrender to God to lead us. America should not fall into darkness or into a place where it is no longer a family. It starts with a passion and longing for moments of peace, to touch each other in joy.

This is our America, the one that I still reach forward to hold. The one I journey towards. Let us join hands because of the Light that longs to unite us all. Freedom is more than just a willingness to live; it is a force of love that binds us all. Being truly free is seeing America as our “heart and home.” Uniting around a common good will help bring us together in true happiness into the future.


A Land Will…Shine Free
I think, what is America?
Explorers from where they came,
By morning and night,
To find a land not so tame.

I think, what is America?
Captains of rivers that cry,
I can not find the course,
No matter how hard I try.

I think, what is America?
Of soldiers that fought tooth and nail,
Whose blood that was left on the plain,
Who spirit will always set sail.

I think, what is America?
As I start a new day,
Birds and song greet a light,
And God shows us the way.
Maybe, this is America.
The land I seek,
Where love is king,
And the spirit never grows weak.

Maybe, this is America.
The one I dream to be,
One nation shall go forth,
A land will…shine free.

c 2005