GLENN: I was at church yesterday. And a friend came up.
I said, how was your week?
She said, not good. My daughter tried to commit suicide on Friday.
I don't know about your church. But mine is facing several in that net, that web.
We are -- we are looking at a generation and people that are searching for meaning.
I want you to listen carefully, if you're one of these people. Because I consider myself one of these people.
What really has meaning? What truly has meaning in your life?
And how much of your day is spent on that? And how much of your day is spent on stuff that is really meaningless?
How much of our day is spent on arguing or -- I mean, I think it's almost like we're -- we're addicted to anger.
We're addicted to the fight on something, because it gives us meaning. It gives us purpose, it gives us something to fight for. Because we don't know what's real.
We don't know really what's happening to us. And what we're doing -- at the same time we're fighting for these things and we're struggling in our own self to find meaning, if we're lucky enough, we're old enough to have had some meaning in our life, have had something real in our life.
Maybe we don't have it anymore, but we did at one point. And so we know it's possible.
I think our youth, they don't even know it's possible. They don't know that anything has any value.
And this comes from never having to fight for somebody, never having to fight for something. Never -- never losing something. Never losing a game. Never coming in last. Never made to feel uncomfortable.
Think of the things that truly have meaning in your life.
Did they come to you easily?
Think of the things that truly have meaning in your life. Were they cheap?
We are living in a -- you know that -- right before you get to the cashier, what do you call it? Place where it's just all the candy.
That's -- I feel like that's what life is to Americans right now. Oh, you know what, I want that.
Yeah, I'm just going to throw that in there too. Without all the shopping, without having to make the list, without having to pull it in the car or anything else. It's just, it's right there. I want it. I'm going to grab it.
And if I can't pay for it, don't worry. I've got a card for everything.
Have you ever bought anything in the checkout counter, in the checkout line that had meaning?
That you, in the end, cherished, that you wanted to pass on?
Nothing. This is happening to us because we're trying to make life comfortable. And there is no meaning in -- in all comfort.
Life is uncomfortable. Life requires endurance. Endurance implies, there's tough times. And we're trying to take those things away from everyone. And it's what's making our life meaningless.
You know, in America, we think that we can protest and ban and tear down and rip up and legislate our way out of anything bad or anything uncomfortable.
We're going to find a way. Biloxi School District just banned the book To Kill a Mockingbird.
Now, they've just banned that from the eighth grade curriculum. The students were in the middle of studying it. And the school board vice president said there were parents that were complaining about it because there's language in this book that makes people uncomfortable.
We can teach them the same lesson in another way, that's not uncomfortable.
Wait. What?
Thomas the Tank? Is that -- I mean, is that -- hey, here's Thomas. He's going to talk about racism. He's going to talk about lynching.
It should make you uncomfortable.
Life is really pretty easy. People are complex. We should understand that the world is very complex because there are billions of people in it.
Racial injustice in the early 20th century America should make you uncomfortable.
How is that not a good way to tell your children -- do you know -- have you ever read Grimm Fairy Tales? Have you ever read the actual fairytales?
They're not happy.
Hansel and Gretel don't make it out of the house. I mean -- and why were they written that way? To teach children that life is brutal, unless you pay attention.
I don't know what you're going to do in Biloxi. If you're in that area, call the school district, but in a respectful manner. Suggest that they stop cowering to the tyranny and have some common sense. Teach our children that life is uncomfortable.
The uncomfortability of struggle is what gives your life meaning. Ask anyone. Ask anyone.
Their fondest memories most likely, when they just got married and they were struggling to make it. Why? Because they learned so much. We're getting tired, but we're tired because we're fighting and it doesn't seem like anything has any meaning.
We're fighting -- look how hard we have fought since September 11th, for our country. And all the people that we put our faith in, it doesn't look like they actually meant it.
So you're tired, because you feel like you didn't do anything of meaning. But you did. You're just not seeing it. You're not seeing it. You changed the lives of your children. There's nothing more important than that.
I'd like to point out that, you know, studying To Kill a Mockingbird promotes the exact kind of virtues and conversation that we're in desperate need of today.
Also, School District in Biloxi, you might also know that generations of Americans have studied To Kill a Mockingbird. And somehow or another, we have all managed to survive our uncomfortableness.
There is this movement in America, into one giant pansy pillow line safe space. There's no such thing as a safe space!
I was teaching in church a couple of months ago. And I asked -- I was teaching actually during the week. I was teaching the young adults the 16, 17, 18-year-olds.
Said, tell me what sanctuary means. Why did people -- you saw Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Disney cartoon. Why was Esmeralda always screaming, sanctuary, sanctuary? Because the church was a safe space. Wait a minute. Safe space. Was it a safe space?
Is church supposed to be a safe space? No!
Church should be a predictable place. But church should be the place where you come -- it's a hospital, man.
It's where you come and you're struggling. And somebody will tell you the truth. Not make you feel better.
But tell you the truth. And here's the truth: It's really not that hard.
It's really simple. You follow just a few simple rules. And you work hard. And you question with boldness.
And you don't accept excuses from yourself. And you stop looking for safe spaces.
We would have never gone to the moon because the moon is not a safe space. We would have never, ever gone into space, because it's chilly, I hear.
We would have never, ever come to America -- I know half the country seemingly would be happy about that. But look at the blessings of America.
We would never explore the highest mountains. We would most likely never get married or have children. Because think of the heartache that you have endured because you fell in love.
Think of the heartache you endured because you had a child. Would you change that for anything?
That heartache is -- those are stripes I am proud to wear. Because those children gave my life meaning.