To say that climbing on a bus with 50 strangers to join a caravan of hundreds of other buses jostling our way up the yellow-brick road to Oz put this historian out of his comfort zone would not be an understatement; it would be a gross understatement. However, having fallen through the rabbit hole in the 50s and taken the red pill in the 60s, the slow-motion train wreck that is the progressive’s deconstruction of traditional America, combined with the light-speed transformation of our beloved republic into a European-style nanny-state since the November revolution of ’08, compelled me to go. Stoked by daily doses of radio-free Glenn and incited by the daily drip-drip-drip of the government take-overs and serial bail-outs, the anticipation has built for months.

Now that the great event is ove,r we have to ask ourselves, “What did we go to Washington to see?”

Did we go to see a politician? No! Politicians are people dressed in fancy clothes or people giving eloquent speeches. We can see those 24 hours a day on C-Span. The best Congress money can buy has this down to a science. They know how to look and sound important. They even know how to look and sound relevant, caring, concerned and informed. The only problem is that time and time again we elect people to change the anti-liberty, anti-individual freedom agenda rotting the core of the American experiment, and time after time we find out that instead of sending in the cavalry we have sent in the clowns and the beat-down goes on. We did not see a politician at the Restoring Honor Rally. So, what did we go to Washington to see?

Did we go to see a religious leader? Having been one myself, I speak with a certain familiarity, if not authority. No! Religious leaders, though they may selflessly and honestly present the message of their particular religion, are members of organizations, and they seek the advancement of those organizations: That is their job. We did not see a religious leader at the Restoring Honor Rally. So what did we go to Washington to see?

Did we go to see a promoter of hate? No! Promoters of hate sent out invitations to their event based on race, saying every one of certain races should come. The people of hate displayed a huge banner with a picture of Dr. Martin Luther King labeled “The Dream” above a huge picture of Glenn Beck labeled “The Nightmare.” The people of hate wandered through the largest crowd I have ever seen holding up signs calling the Americans of every race and nationality who attended the Restoring Honor Rally the “KKK” and other provocative slogans. We did not see a promoter of hate at the Restoring Honor Rally. So what did we go to Washington to see?

Did we go to see a self-promoter? No! Self-promoters seek to make money and/or build their own kingdom. Self-promoters constantly point to themselves as the answer to the questions they ask, and the solution to the problems they pose. Self-promoters use others as props and always shine the light on themselves. Self-promoters make it big, then live large leaving others to calculate how much those serial-vacations cost as they send us the bill for one more glittering gala in the midst of a crisis too good to waste. Self-promoters wag their finger in our face saying we should realize we can no longer lead the world as they cozy up to our enemies, insult our friends and walk all over our Constitution. We did not see a self-promoter at the Restoring Honor Rally. So what did we go to Washington to see?

Did we go up to see a prophet? Yes! We went to the Restoring Honor Rally to see a prophet, and more than a prophet. A prophet is never a person who declares themselves to be one, but instead is a person others recognize as one. I am calling Glenn Beck a prophet. He is seeing beyond the present and pointing to a horizon others cannot see. He is drawing together people of all faiths, races and nationality and is pointing the way out of a wilderness of our own creation, through the sea of bureaucratic newspeak, to the promised land of limited government.

Some may ask, “Who is Dr. Owens to proclaim Glenn Beck a prophet?” I am but the chronicler of the history of the future, and my discernment that Glenn Beck is a prophet will mean little beyond the narrow pale of my columns and websites, but many hundreds of thousands of my fellow Americans echoed this discernment by traveling from all over this country to see Beck and hear what he had to say.

And what he had to say was a reminder that long ago God told His people if they ever strayed from His path the way back was found in the wisdom of His word: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Owens teaches history, political science, and religion for Southside Virginia Community College and history for the American Public University System. http://drrobertowens.com © 2010 Robert R. Owens dr.owens@comcast.net