Lengthy  - but worth reading in my opinion
>
> We need to keep THIS MAN in our prayers.
>
> (Authored by Bruce Holbrook)
>
> We thank God for "this man".
>
>
> 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 do 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
> 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." Happen to catch Bill Clinton at the National
> Prayer Service? Didn't look too good, did he?
>
> 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."
>
> He 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."
> =============================
> God Bless President Bush
> God Bless America
> Bruce Holbrook
>
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