About our President
Posted by: root <root@...>
From: Byron "Butch" Keelin, Jr. <butchkeelin@yahoo.com>
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Read the following by an unknown author, and afterwards I believe
you will want to say a prayer for our President.
To: Americans everywhere
Subject: President Bush our leader.....
This was the same man who came within a hair's breadth of losing an
election in November, who withstood the political chicanery of the
Florida Democratic machine to fix the vote count. This was the same
man who admitted to having a drinking problem in younger years, and
whose happy-go-lucky lifestyle led him to mediocre grades in college and
an ill-fated oil venture. This was the same man who mangled syntax even
more than his father, and whose speaking missteps became known as
"Bushisms." And on Friday, this was the man who bore the weight of the
world and the responsibilities of a generation with dignity, class,
confidence, appropriate solemnity, and even much-needed wit.
One thing struck me during the campaign, that difficult, roller-coaster
campaign that now seems years ago. It was that George W. Bush never
seemed to get ruffled. Whether the theft of a campaign debate video or
the sudden (some would say, vicious) release of a DUI arrest two
decades ago at a key moment, "W" did not lose his cool. At times, his
staff seemed overconfident, as did many of us. A 350-electoral-vote
win, they quietly implied . . . and we optimistically believed.
Then they counted the votes, miscounted others, and re-counted still
others. At the end, he was still there. Whereas Al Gore almost
frantically huffed and puffed, trying to gin up something out of
nothing, Bush quietly but confidently waited at his ranch. He did
nothing: that is the mistake people have constantly made with this man,
confusing lack of bluster for absence of action. No, his team of
attorneys and the iron-willed James Baker were carrying out his
orders, but W stayed in the background, confident and faithful. You see,
it is this faith business that confounded everyone. We have had such
actors and liars in public office that we have looked skeptically
whenever anyone used the term faith.
But this was the same man who was the first politician ever in
recent memory to name Jesus Christ as the lord of his life on public TV.
Not an oblique reference to being "born-again" or having a "life
change." He said the un-PC-like phrase, "Jesus Christ," to which his
handlers and advisors, no doubt, off stage, were also saying, "Jesus
Christ" in a much different tone.
God has a way of honoring those who honor him. David learned that while
he was on the run from Saul's armies. Job learned that after his time of
horrible tribulation. The Messiah said so Himself, many times. So this
was the man who actually put faith into practice. He actually loves
those who hate him. It is a staggering concept, so foreign in daily
occurence that few thought it anything but grandstanding. Even one of
W's biggest supporters chided the president for adhering to his "new
tone."
Yet there he was, again and again, thanking the Democrats. Appointing
his enemies to high places in his government. Inviting his former foes
and their wives to private movie screenings, and (I know, this is hard
to stomach) even treating them with dignity.
See, this was the man who learned early on how faith worked: by praying
for his enemies, you "heap burning coals upon their heads." This was the
man who named the absolute top people in national security and defense,
then caught barbs from the politically righteous that this one didn't
have the right views on abortion or that one didn't have the right
position on guns. And on September 11, at mid-morning, this was the man
thrust into a position only known by Roosevelt, Churchill, Lincoln, and
Washington. The weight of the world was on his shoulders, and the
responsibility of a generation was on his soul.
So this same man---the one that the media repeatedly attempted to
tarnish with charges of "illegitimacy," and the one whose political
opponents desperately sought to stonewall until mid-term elections---
walked to his seat at the front of the National Cathedral just three
days after the two most impressive symbols of American capitalism and
prosperity virtually evaporated, along with, perhaps, thousands of
Americans.
As he sat down next to his wife, immediately I knew that even if his
faith ever faltered, hers didn't. I have never seen a more peaceful face
than Laura Bush, whose eyes seemed as though they were already gazing at
the final outcome . . not just of this conflict, but of her reward in
Heaven itself. In this marriage, you indeed got two for the price of
one. The appropriate songs were sung, as one said, to in an almost
unbearably
emotional service. I, for one, broke down innumerable times merely
listening on tape delay on the radio. How the man spoke without
blubbering, I'll never know.
Then came the defining moment of our generation. Some people fondly
recall their Woodstock days. Others mark with grim sadness November 22,
1963, as the day America lost her innocence. But I firmly believe
when the history of this time is written, it will be acknowledged by
friend and foe alike that President George W. Bush came of age in that
cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees. It wasn't so much his
words, though read a decade later, they will indeed be as stirring as
any. The conflict would end, he noted, "at a time of our choosing." It
certainly wasn't his emotion. What had to have been one of the most
stunning exhibitions of self-control in presidential history, W was able
to deliver his remarks without losing either his resolve or his focus,
or, more important, his confidence. It was as if God's hand, which had
guided him through that sliver-thin election, now rested fully on
him. His quiet confidence let our enemies know . . . and believe me,
they know that they made a grave miscalculation.
Now, this same man who practiced his faith through a tough election, who
steeled his convictions even more in a drawn-out Florida battle, and who
never once gave in to the temptation to get in the gutter with his foes
(well, ok, maybe the "Clymer" comment is an exception), this same man
now lifted the weight of the world and the responsibility of a
generation and put it on his modest shoulders as though it were another
unpleasant duty.
As he walked back to his seat, the camera angle was appropriate. He was
virtually alone in the scene, alone in that massive place of God, just
him and the Lord. But that's the way it's always been in his life
recently.
In that brief time it took him to return to his seat, I believe he
heard words to the effect of, "You can do this, George. I am with you
always. And you can do this well, because I am going before you. And
don't worry about the weight. I've got it." And I saw in his eyes a
quiet acknowledgement. "I know. Thank you, Lord."
Back at his seat, when W sat down, George H. W. Bush reached over and
took his son's hand. The elder Bush always struck me as a religious
man, but not someone who shared his life on a daily basis with the Lord.
George H. W. treats the Father like a respected uncle, visiting him on
appropriate holidays and knowing the relationship is real, but not
constant. Anyway, I believe that in that fatherly squeeze George H. W.
said, "I wish I could do this for you, son, but I can't. You have to do
this on your own." W squeezed back and gave him that look of peace that
Laura had kept throughout. It said, "I don't have to do it alone, dad.
I've got help."