I was in Nashville, Tennessee at the Grand Ole Opry a few months ago and as a great fan of country music, I got caught up in some of those old “Opry” songs that took me back a few (clearing my throat) years. Well, maybe more than a few. Ha! But I’ll never tell (big chuckle).
I had the most wonderful time listening to artist after artist come out to sing his or her signature song while we all cheered with nostalgic delight after just a few bars of an old favorite song took us back to a time when . . . .
Mel McDaniel came out on stage late in the show and began to sing one of his roof-raising songs, “Stand Up.” The lyrics kept repeating, “Stand Up” and ended with “Identify.” But when he added the line “Stand Up for the U.S.A., Stand Up For America” and an American flag dropped from the ceiling, the audience members one by one began to stand to their feet and there was thunderous applause. The people went wild – the house came alive with excitement.
Oh, my goodness, I went wild. I was on my feet the second I saw that flag drop down. I was “whoopin’ and hollerin’” with the rest of the crowd. Oh, what a wonderful feeling! Stand Up . . . Identify! And that’s exactly what we did.
As I made my way back to the hotel that evening, I couldn’t get those words out of my mind. Of course the music has such a great rhythm that you want to march all over the place with your own flag in hand and wave it high. I was charged up and it would be hours before I would wind down. What a glorious night!
That grand feeling of “standing up” has not left me. As I’ve watched Americans taking a stand in the past few months for our country and for what is right, I am charged up every day as I see “things changing.”
America is coming home – back to its foundation – back to where it belongs. It’s been those courageous Americans who have been willing to TAKE A STAND, TO IDENTIFY THEMSELVES, and BE HEARD.
The producer, Jack Kenny, of the NBC special, The Book of Daniel, said the show was cancelled because people were being “bullish and un-Christian – trying to prevent you from seeing these beautiful shows.”
Beautiful show . . . hmmm, I won’t even go there. Just ask someone, or I’m sure you can find out for yourself what The Book of Daniel was about. It certainly wasn’t the Daniel we know from the Bible. And none of those folks from NBC will ever convince me or you that they weren’t trying to use such a title as a “lure.”
Christian men and women were doing the most Christian thing they could and that was to protest and dispute a TV network from using the name of one of the most Godly men in the Bible to present some of the most UN-GODLY acts of mankind.
So, who’s really the demon here? Ha! Christians stood up and identified themselves . . . they said NO. Don’t you just love it?
Taking a stand can make a difference. Stay tuned America, “Stand up . . . Identify.”
Debbie Daniel can be contacted at: dddtx@yahoo.com
