EDITOR’S NOTE: Due to inclement weather in Dallas, Glenn asked his staff to stay home this today as he broadcasted his radio program from home. As a result, no video clips will be available from Friday’s radio show. You can listen to the entire radio show HERE. The story below is a recap of one the radio segments.
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Glenn has been talking about the importance of the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s trio of holidays for a few weeks now, and, on radio this morning, he explained why the holiday season offers the perfect opportunity to “reset” and “examine” your life and to “figure out who you want to be.”
“The trilogy of holidays, as I like to call them, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's – it's a chance for you to reset,” Glenn said. “It's a chance for you to put into place all three things that are important in life."
As Glenn sees it, Thanksgiving offered the chance to express humility and gratitude for everything - both the good and the bad - that you have.
Glenn explained that his family recently received some bad news, but he finds himself proud with the way they have handled the situation. It is easy to give credit to God for the good things in life, but it is equally important, as Glenn explained, to recognize that the not-so-good things come from Him as well.
“It all comes from him. It's all right. It's all right. It's all going to be good. That's a miracle,” Glenn explained. “So the first part of the trilogy is Thanksgiving and the humility, to see the blessings of the good and the bad.
The second part of the trio is Christmas, and while we often look at Christmas as the celebration of the birth of Jesus, Glenn explained why it is actually a day to celebrate the life of Jesus. Christmas represents an opportunity for rebirth – to reexamine what it is you are supposed to do.
“And then it's the birth of the baby, but it's not just the birth. That's not what it's about. It's the death. Why did he come? To start over, to send you a clear message: You can start over,” Glenn said. “My life is so different than it was in the 1990s. Everything about me – fundamentally to the cellular level – [is] different because I was given the chance to start all over again. And you can [too].”
Glenn warned against making “stupid” New Year resolutions that “don’t mean anything really.” Instead, Glenn encouraged his listeners to consider what it is you want to be. “Figure out why you are really here,” he said.
To illustrate this point, Glenn told the story of a man named Joe:
Joe lived a long life, and he died peacefully in his sleep. Next thing he knows, he's entering the pearly gates, and St. Peter greets him and says, "Anybody here you want to meet?" And he's like, "You've got to be kidding me. I can meet anybody?" He's like, "Yeah, you can meet anybody." He's like, "Well, I've always been a baseball fan. I'd like to meet the best player you've got up here." St. Peter says, "Paging Lou Gehrig, Lou Gehrig to the pearly gates, Lou Gehrig." Lou shows up. He was taking batting practice. He takes a break. They talk for hours about baseball and the power of humility.
St. Peter says, "Anybody else you want to meet?" He says, "Yeah. Tesla. I read this book by Glenn Beck. I was actually reading his book when I fell asleep and then you took me and then I didn't get a chance to finish the Tesla and Westinghouse and Edison chapter." He says, "Hang on. Nikola Tesla to the pearly gates. Nikola Tesla to the pearly gates." They had a long talk.
St. Peter says, "Anybody else?" He says, "Yeah. You know what? I was an American soldier. Tell me, who's the greatest general here?" St. Peter thought for a moment. This time he didn't page anybody. He takes him over to an alley right around the corner and there sitting on a bench was a cobbler repairing a shoe. He said, "There he is. He's the greatest military general that ever lived." Joe said, "I don't recognize him." St. Peter said, "No, you wouldn't. He had all the values and the characteristics of a great leader, but his father was a cobbler, and his father before him was a cobbler, and so he felt he should be a cobbler. He thought it was the right thing to do – not for himself but for others. He never followed his passion, but he's a good man."
“Be remembered for doing not what you think others want you to do, but find out who you really are. Find out why you are here. Start all over again. Be your authentic self. You have unique talents,” Glenn concluded. “When you get to the other side, have somebody say, ‘I want to see the best of...’ Don't have St. Peter come around the corner and say, ‘It should have been him, but he did what everybody told him he should do. He did what he thought was the easiest. He listened to others.’”
