My goal with “From the Right” was not to promote argument, but rather to influence change.
Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John McCain are always talking about change — Barack is running his campaign on “change.”
Change, however, is not just talking about it. It requires action to actually change what you believe is incorrect, unjust, or unfair.
This column was my way of taking action, and it was prompted by one substantial change in my life: my belief in God.
Over Christmas break I went to North Carolina to visit some old friends, including Jeremiah, the son of a preacher.
When I was still going to school with Jeremiah, he had told me about his church, and I was intrigued. I wanted to see the difference between a southern Baptist church and the Catholic church I was baptized in.
The first time I went, the service was, to say the least, different. There were very few synchronized prayers or rituals. The choir made me feel like I was at a concert.
Then the preaching began.
The preacher, Jeremiah’s father, said his word of God like nothing I’d ever seen or heard before. He whispered it, he yelled it and he used analogies to prove His existence.
At the end of the sermon he encouraged those who were in need of savior, forgiveness, and help from the Lord to come up and kneel at the foot of the cross and His pulpit. I didn’t go up. I didn’t know what to do. I simply observed.
When I went to North Carolina over Christmas, I knew I’d return to Jeremiah’s church. I looked forward to it. I looked forward to hearing his father preach and hearing the congregation holler “Amen!” to one of his points.
So I went that first Sunday in Sanford, North Carolina. I listened once again, and once again it struck home; it strengthened my belief in God. But when the time came to kneel below the cross, I froze. I wanted to go up but something held me back.
The next time I went to Jeremiah’s church was that same Sunday, in the evening.
Anther man preached unlike any other person I had ever seen. He was so emotional, so fired up, so believing that his words were correct that he worked up a sweat. He even got off stage and walked amongst the congregation!
But it wasn’t enough to make me go up to the front and bow before the cross and pray. I wanted to, no doubt, but the fact that I was baptized Catholic held me back.
The next Sunday, the same day I’d be attending my first ever Duke Basketball game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, I was saved.
Before I even walked into that church I knew a meeting with God was inevitable.
I listened to the choir; it all had clicked.
I heard a sermon I can’t remember because I was only listening for the words that meant it was time to be saved.
When those words came I couldn’t get out of that pew fast enough. I had to dodge Jeremiah’s brother before I was able to kneel below the cross, the preacher and his entire congregation. As I prayed and begged for forgiveness memories of the all the hell I had raised growing up played like a slide-show. I couldn’t help but cry because I felt so bad.
After I stood up I felt the weight of all those sins lift away. I was saved and I can honestly say my body felt physically lighter.
Now before you say “Oh, here’s another bible-thumping red-neck/hick,” I have to tell you that my belief in God wasn’t affirmed until that day. I must also tell you that day changed my life tremendously. It changed the way I act, the way I think and most of all it gave me the ability to forgive and pray meaningfully.
When I pray I look to the stars –right at God — and I speak aloud when only He is the one who is listening.
My column is one of the results of my new life.
After leaving you, the reader, with this last column, I do not ask you to do the same as I have done. I ask you to consider what I have done and consider if it would work for you.
Changing your life isn’t easy, but this change that I made, this event I will never forget, it changed me for the better, made me sure that God exists and helped me understand myself.
Thank you all for reading “From the Right.”
I have not decided if I will continue it next year but I ask you to continue reading the Free Press.
I hope you all will consider the ideas and opinions I have contributed.
Dustin Gilbert is compassionate conservative hoping to help his fellow students better understand right-wingers.