True Story: Conservative Principles SAVED ME

the second song amazing grace and i'm. i'm gonna tell you why i love that song. first and foremost um i walked down the. aisle to amazing grace when i got. married um and the song is always i. never knew the history of the song it's. just a song that when you hear it um it. does something to you you feel it. there's something about amazing grace. that you feel. and so i thought to myself let me. actually look up this song amazing grace. where does it come from where does this. hymn come from. the story of amazing grace is it was it. was written by a man named john newton. he was a british man.

and he didn't grow up with any uh. theological basis he had no religious. convictions in his youth um he was sent. to the royal navy he was forced to go. there in that in that time and for after. a few years he switched lifestyles and. he joined um the african slave trade he. used his ship and his vessel uh to. transport slaves from africa. um and in 1748 there was a storm at sea.

off the coast of ireland uh which he did. not think he was going to survive. and he reached out and he said god uh. please have mercy on me have mercy on me. and he survived. six years later he gave up seafaring. altogether. and he decided to dedicate his life to. christian theological studies and he was. ordained in the church of england and uh. he began writing hymns and he wrote. amazing grace he actually wrote it as a.

a song that was supposed to go with the. new year's day sermon. and. the song actually didn't pick up. in britain it didn't pick up it never. became popular. until years later it did pick up in. america it picked up an america in the. south. um when religion there was a revival of. protestant religion in the south. and it also picked up amongst the slaves. suddenly the slaves began singing this. hymn as they would work amazing grace.

how sweet the sound that saved a wretch. like me. and you can when you listen to slaves um. sing hymns when you listen to the heart. and the soul um that was behind. them singing in the hymns it's an. incredible incredible experience to. really process. people that were in this horrendous. position. singing this hymn that was written by. somebody who had a spiritual awakening. about savior about grace and about god.

and i think the reason that the song. means so much to me and i think to every. single person why you instantly want to. sing. along. is um because we're all. the wretched right that saved a wretch. like me. that. that is exactly how i feel the blessing. that i feel every single day. that i get to stand on stage and i get. to have not just a second chance a third. chance a fourth chance a fifth chance. because i was a wretch. right i made terrible decisions when i.

was young king face talked about the. decisions he made when he was young. brandon talked about him being arrested. brendan tatum right all of us. led these paths were down these paths um. that were so meaningless. and so harmful and so hateful. and then we were saved. i was saved simply by conservative. principles right that is the chance that. god gave me conservative principles go. back to your root figure out who you are.

right. and i realized that while i was living. my life liberal while i was going around. thinking that i was free because i was. following no rules right liberalism and. leftism there are no rules in life you. should do and say and be whatever you. want to be and not be respectful to. other people don't acknowledge truths. you can live in lies because being you. can lie and lie and lie that's a form of. freedom and i lived that way. i lived that way for 20 some years until. that thing that was supposed to feel. like freedom.

started to feel like bondage. i realized nothing in my life was real. nothing that i had was tangible or real. not my relationships not my friendships. nothing was real. because we were all building ourselves. upon a lie a foundational lie. when i lost my grandmother in 2013 that. was the beginning of a turning point for. me. my grandmother was really the only. mother that i knew. and she raised all of us in the way that. grandparents are able to raise it seems. like everyone in the family cousins.

brothers sisters we all felt that we. were raised by my grandmother and my. grandfather. and when my grandmother was taken into. the hospital in 2013 they thought she'd. be out in 48 hours. but i got on a plane anyway and i went. down to fayetteville north carolina to. see her. i had this big expensive bag i had just. started working in private equity. and as soon as i got a check even though. i was some 100 thousand dollars in. student loan debt i went and bought a. fancy bag so i could fit in. and look cool.

and my grandmother she must have known. that she wasn't going to make it out of. the hospital. because she she took time to speak to me. and each of my siblings. and all of my cousins individually and. the last word she said to me the first. thing she said to me was candace. you need to forgive your mother so. random we weren't talking about my. mother we weren't talking about my. upbringing i had a tough one. and then she said i worry about you. i worry about you in new york city i. worry about you because you're losing.

yourself. and i laughed it off and i said grandma. it's fine i got on a plane in 24 hours. she was dead. so it was an incredibly it was a moment. for me because i suddenly started. thinking about my grandmother and. reflecting upon the upbringing and. reflecting upon the ways that they had. raised me the things that i had run from. growing up in my grandfather's home. there were nothing but rules. we had to be sitting around the table. reading the bible before we head to. school he would ask us questions. he would not serve us a plate in the.

morning he would ignore us if we didn't. say good morning it was just a sign of. respect you don't come down here you. don't sit down and ask for food until. you greet the person that is serving you. and you say good morning. he ran a tight ship and that ship was. filled with love a lot of rules but more. love. and it shaped me and my sisters when we. were young he planted the seeds of. conservatism that i would be able to. harvest later my grandmother and my and. my grandfather believed in the family. structure. my grandmother grew up in tortola.

british virgin island she had a lot of. issues health-wise and she was because. she was considered crippled because she. walked a little funny. she was treated horribly had a horrible. upbringing a horrible life my. grandfather grew up in a segregated. south um and so he had to work from the. time he was five years old laying out. tobacco to dry in fayetteville north. carolina. uh picking cotton in fayetteville north. carolina five years old wrap your head. around that five years old getting up.

before the crack of dawn otherwise the. carolina sun is too hot. so you have to get up and you have to do. man work right at 5 00 a.m in the. morning crack of dawn. and my grandfather did it he never. complained. and what was remarkable is uh. never once in our household when he. would share the stories of his. upbringing never once so my grandmother. would share the stories of their. upbringing did they ever complain it was. just what happened my grandfather. despite surviving attacks from the ku.

klux klan never once. in our household said a bad word about. white people it never happened. right. my grandfather would just say it was a. different time in fact regarding the ku. klux klan he talks about that story with. such tremendous pride. he says. the kkk would come around and spray. bullets in our home and my daddy would. grab the shotgun and shoot back at them. boys right. boys calling me these these terrorist. boys right.

that strength um that victor mentality. uh that my grandparents had never. complaining. it's so special it's so special it's the. same victory mentality when you look. just a few generations ago. and you look at the boys whose average. age was 22 years old. that left their home country to go land. on the beaches of normandy right. look at the images of those boys in. world war ii the courage watch the. documentaries about the conversations.

that were had they knew they were going. to die. they were they they were they were 20 20. years old uh. people that were 18. flying and doing all of these things. pilots. that knew they didn't have fuel that. were flying towards mit towards midway. and knew that if they made a decision to. turn around they weren't going to make. it back. the courage the strength. the way that these people fought and the. way that these people lived the. principles that they had the values that. they had.

those are the things that made america. great that made america unique. if we can go back if we can go back to. understanding. that our strength and our values are. naturally conservative because let me. tell you guys something in times of a. real struggle and strife everybody's a. conservative it is only.

it is only in remarkable times of. privilege right when you are so. privileged and your life is so great do. you have time to debate bathroom signs. and whether or not they're accepting. enough right. only in times of of real strife. everybody becomes a conservative because. conservative is about sensibility. it is the only way that we are going to. move forward as a country if we all come. together if we all come together and we. we adapt.

and we realize that conservatism is what. built this country if we realize. that every single person in this room is. connected. based on the fact that you were born and. you are here in america america is by. far in my opinion the greatest country. in the world and i will tell you why. because what unites america. is a philosophy. and that philosophy is that if you work.

hard like my grandparents did and you. stay out of trouble and you make good. decisions this country will reward you. it is that simple.