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Yesterday I went down to the Billy Graham Crusade in Flushing Meadow Park in Queens. Yesterday was a scorcher, and the place was packed, but luckily the FDNY shot some water into the air where people could cool down.
The old boy is 86, and some say it’s probably his last crusade in New York. I’ve never actually heard Billy Graham before. He’s not a very dynamic speaker, and his message is very plain. But it’s the same old gospel we know and love and it’s the same one people need to keep hearing because even those of us raised in the church forget it. There were probably 20,000 people there just on Sunday.
It started with music from some spanish guy, the Gaither Vocal Band, the Brooklyn Tab. and Mercy Me. Then Michael W. Smith sang a couple of songs. None of them interested me very much. They’re not my style; I was waiting for Billy. Then Billy Graham got up and talked about Noah and the end times and the urgency of repentance. It’s all stuff I’ve heard before, but it’s stuff I always need to hear.
There were two lone protesters there saying that Billy Graham is leading people to hell. And he, along with James Dobson and others are evil men. I tried talking to the most flamboyant guy. He just said that God is to be feared, and unless we understand that, we can’t be saved. Duh. He can squash you like a bug. That’s why Jesus came to save us. I know that. But no matter what questions he was asked he couldn’t explain satisfactorally why he was on one side of the protestor-fence and I was on the other. I guess some people get a sense of importance out of protesting something.
Afterwards I ran into some friends of mine and we went out to eat at a fabulous greek restaurant in Astoria. We were going to go to a place called the Stone Cold creamery (or Cold Stone, I forget which) afterward, but we were all too full. I’ll have to go back there. Especially if they have anything called a “stunner.”