It left me without words — the Glenn Beck “Restoring Honor” rally in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on Martin Luther King day. It was broadcast live on CSPAN. Beck had claimed it was not to be a political event but a spiritual one. True to his promise, he did not give a speech but “preached.” The whole program was so beautiful that I cried. Friend Dolores called after it was over. “Did you cry?” I asked. “Yes,” she answered. “That’s how I knew it was for real.” Friend Jon drove to DC to be present at the rally. He called me after it was over to proclaim Glenn Beck “anointed.” I agreed.
Alveda King, daughter of the late slain civil rights activist Rev. A. D. King and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King was scheduled to speak and asked Beck to pray with her beforehand. She noted that he was smart to wear a bullet-proof vest (“for my wife”) and he offered to get one for her. Though she was obviously afraid she declined the offer and decided to trust God.
We who have attended the annual March for Life in DC know how the liberal media love to diminish the size of the crowds when they report. Jon was sure there were a half million people there. Fox News gave a similar number. CBS and ABC reported numbers under 100,000. When are they going to get real?
Thank God 240 important religious leaders were brave enough to be in attendance. When Beck was unable to get any military presence to present the national colors he decided to put up two American flags honored by Boy Scouts. But there was, indeed, a flyover, not arranged by man.
Here’s just a taste of the rally.
Here is a link to Glenn Beck’s keynote speech at the rally. The lines are drawn more clearly than ever. Expect all hell to break loose.
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Stand, therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace, besides all these taking the shield of faith with which you can quench all he flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. — Ephesians 6:11-15
Stand in the blaze of the truth. — Glenn Beck
The flyover gave me shivers. We are not alone.
This was written by Day Gardner, President of the National Black Pro-Life Union: “On August 28, 2010, the 47th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s historical speech, I find myself standing beside his niece, Dr. Alveda King as she delivered her amazing speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. My eyes welled–a lump formed–this is what her uncle saw! Looking out over the mall into thousands and thousands of faces, Alveda, my black brothers and sisters and I stood in solidarity–in unity. From the Lincoln Memorial, past the Washington Monument, as far as the eye could see in any direction, American people of all colors stood shoulder to shoulder to honor the one true God–to show love for our great country, a country founded on the Solid Rock which is the word of God–to fix the places where we are broken–to help the weathered masses–to see the humanity of unborn children–to heal the terrible hurts–to lift each other up and to never stand down until the “dream” is restored and I was there.”
I don’t have a problem want to rain on anyone’s parade so let me first say I don’t have a problem with the Rally or Alveda King (she’s great) or Sarah Palin (she’s even better) because I don’t think they go looking for an audience. Alveda has been a pro-life speaker for a long, long time and she does great things in the black community, and Sarah Palin wasn’t looking for a gig when McCain tapped her on the shoulder. She was minding her own business in Alaska. But now she’s found people listen when she speaks – and she’s got something to say and she’s just like the rest of us.
And good for all those folks for coming to DC – and having been to many, many pro-life marches I know about that underestimate the crowd thing. And a pro-life march can make me cry.
Regarding Glenn Beck himself, I’ve watched his show a few times, and all I see is another Bill O’Reilly who screams “facts” at you and never lets anyone dispute or get a word in edgewise. And then Beck starts crying on his show, and I have to turn the TV off.
You know me, I am as conservative and patriotic as the next person, but I have major problems with this guy. It’s a gut thing, I guess. I could go a little deeper into it, but it gets into a Eucharist vs. Mormon thing and that could go on forever.
You like Alveda and Sarah – two out of three ain’t bad! (I hope you read (or heard) his speech.)