Quote from Forum Archives on October 8, 2001, 6:53 pm

Posted by: BeckyBoop4 <BeckyBoop4@...>

This is long but well worth it.

Blessings, Becky

This says it all.



>  

> 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 didn't not do anything: 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 occurrence 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 midmorning, 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.

>

> 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. This 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 acknowledgment. "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."

>

> *******************

>

> What a blessing to have a professing Christian as President - one who

> is

> not ashamed to admit it!  Please take a moment after you read this to

> pray for him -- he truly does have the weight of the world on his

> shoulders. Pray that God will sustain him and give him wisdom and

> discernment in his decisions. Make no mistake about it -- the

> decisions

> he makes in the coming days, weeks and months will literally define

> the

> future of our country and the free world. Pray for his protection and

> that of his family.

>

> After you have prayed, send this to everyone on your e-mail list.  Our

>

> President needs Christians around the world to be praying for him. As

> this makes the e-mail rounds, eventually there could literally be

> people

> praying for him 24/7!  He needs it.

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