breathe
with faith in Jesus Christ we received the body of our brother George for
burial let us pray with confidence to God the giver of life that he will raise
him to perfection in the company of saints deliver your servant George
Sovereign Lord Christ from all evil and set him free from every bond that he may
rest with all your saints in the eternal habitations wherewith the father and the
Holy Spirit you live and reign one God for ever and ever
let us pray also for all who mourn that they may cast their care on God and know
the consolation of his love Almighty God look with pity upon the
sorrow of your servants for whom we pray remember them gracious God in mercy
nourish them with patience comfort them with a sense of your goodness lift your
countenance upon them and give them peace through Jesus Christ our Lord
I am the resurrection and I am the life says the Lord
whoever has faith in me shall have life even though he died and everyone who has
life and has committed himself to me and faith shall not die for ever as for me I
know that my redeemer lives and at the last he will stand upon the earth after
my awaking he will raise me up and in my body I shall see God I myself shall see
and my eyes behold him who is my friend and not a stranger for none of us liveth
to himself and um becomes his own master when he dies for if we have life we are
Alive on the Lord and if we die we die in the Lord so then whether we live or
die we are the Lord's possession happy from now on are those who die in the
Lord so it says says the spirit for they rest from their labors
Oh
Oh
the Lord be with you let us pray O God whose mercies cannot
be numbered except our prayers on behalf of your
servant George and grant him an entrance into the land of light and joy in the
Fellowship of your Saints through Jesus Christ our Lord who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit one God now and forever amen
a reading from the prophet Isaiah arise shine for your light has come and the
glory of the lord has risen upon you for darkness shall cover the earth and a
thick darkness the people's but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will
appear over you nations shall come to your light and Kings to the brightness
of your dawn lift up your eyes and look around they all gather together they
come to you your sons shall come from far away and your daughters shall be
carried on their nurses arms then you shall see and be radiant your heart
shall thrill and rejoice because the abundance of the sea shall be brought to
you and the wealth of the nations shall come to you violence shall no more be
heard in your land devastation or destruction within your borders you
shall call your walls salvation and your gates praise the Sun shall no longer be
your light by day nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by
night but the Lord will be your everlasting light and your God will be
your glory your son shall no more go down or your moon withdraw itself for
the Lord will be your everlasting light and your days of mourning shall be ended
the word of the Lord
the story was almost over even before it had fully begun shortly after dawn on
Saturday September 2nd 1944 lieutenant junior grade George Herbert Walker Bush
joined by two crew mates took off from the USS San Jacinto to
attack a radio tower on chichi Jima as they approached the target the air was
heavy with flak the plane was hit smoke filled the cockpit flames raced across
the wings my god lieutenant Bush thought this thing's gonna go down yet he kept
the plane and it's 35 degree dive dropped his bombs and then roared off
out to sea telling his crew mates to hit the silk following protocol lieutenant
Bush turned the plane so they could bail out only then did Bush parachute from
the cockpit the wind propelled him backward and he gashed his head on the
tail of the plane as he flew through the sky he plunged deep into the ocean Bob
to the surface and flopped onto a tiny raft his head bleeding his eyes burning
his mouth and throat raw from saltwater the future 41st president of the United
States was alone sensing that his men had not made it he was overcome he felt
the weight of responsibility as a nearly physical burden and he wept then at four
minutes shy of noon a submarine emerged to rescue the downed pilot George
Herbert Walker Bush was safe the story his story and ours would go on by God's
grace through the ensuing decades President Bush would frequently ask
nearly daily he'd ask himself why me why was I spared and in a sense the rest of
his life was a perennial effort to prove himself worthy of his salvation on that
distant morning to him his life was no longer his own there were always more
missions to undertake more lives to touch and more love to give and what a
headlong race he made of it all he never slowed down on the primary campaign
trail in New Hampshire once he grabbed the hand of a department store mannequin
asking for votes when he realized his mistake he said never know gotta ask
you can hear the voice can't you as Dana Carvey said the key to a Bush 41
impersonation is mr. Rogers trying to be John Wayne George Herbert Walker Bush
was America's last great soldier statesman a 20th century founding father
he governed with virtues that most closely resemble those of Washington and
of Adams of TR and of FDR of Truman and of eisenhower of men who believed in
causes larger than themselves
six-foot-two handsome dominant in person President Bush spoke with those big
strong hands making fists to underscore points a master of what Franklin
Roosevelt called the science of human relationships
he believed that to whom much was given much is expected
and because life gave him so much he gave back again and again and again he
stood in the breach in the Cold War against totalitarianism he stood in the
breach in Washington against unthinking partisanship he stood in the breach
against tyranny and discrimination and on his watch a wall fell in Berlin a
dictators aggression did not stand and doors across America opened to those
with disabilities and in his personal life he stood in the breach against
heartbreak and hurt always offering an outstretched hand a warm word a
sympathetic tear if you were down he would rush to lift
you up and if you were soaring he would rush to savor your success strong and
gracious comforting and charming loving and loyal he was our shield in dangers
hour now of course there was ambition to
loads of that to serve he had to succeed to preside he had to prevail politics he
once admitted isn't a pure undertaking not if you want to win it's not an
imperfect man he left us a more perfect union it must
be said that for a keenly intelligent statesman of stirring almost
unparalleled private eloquence public speaking was not exactly a strong suit
fluency in English President Bush once remarked it's something that I'm often
not accused of looking ahead to the 88 election he observed and arguably it's
no exaggeration to say that the undecideds could go one way or the other
and late in his presidency he allowed that we're enjoying sluggish times but
we're not enjoying them very much
his tongue may have run amok at moments but his heart was steadfast his life
code as he said was tell the truth don't blame people be strong do your best try
hard forgive stay the course and that was and is the most American of Creed's
Abraham Lincoln's better angels of our nature
and George HW Bush's thousand points of light our companion verses in America's
national hymn for Lincoln and Bush both called on us to choose the right over
the convenient to hope rather than to fear and to heed not our worst impulses
but our best instincts in this work he had the most wonderful of allies and
Barbara Pierce Bush his wife of 73 years he called her bard the Silver Fox and
when the situation warrantied the enforcer he was the only boy she ever
kissed her children mrs. Bush liked to say always wanted to throw up when they
heard that in a letter to Barbara during the war young George HW Bush had written
I love you precious with all my heart and to know that you love me means my
life how lucky our children will be to have a mother like you and as they will
tell you they surely were as Vice President Bush once visited a children's
leukemia ward in Cracow 35 years before he and Barbara had lost a daughter
to the disease in Krakow a small boy wanted to greet the American vice
president learning that the child was sick with the cancer that had taken
Robin Bush began to cry to his diary later that day the vice president said
this my eyes flooded with tears and behind me was a bank of television
cameras and I thought I can't turn around
I can't dissolve because of personal tragedy in the face of the nurses that
give of themselves every day so I stood there looking at this little guy
tears running down my cheek hoping he wouldn't see but if he did hoping he'd
feel that I loved him that was the real George HW Bush a loving man with a big
vibrant all-enveloping heart and so we ask as we commend his
soul to God and as he did why him why was he spared the workings of Providence
our mysterious but this much is clear the George Herbert Walker Bush who
survived that fiery fall into the waters of the Pacific three-quarters of a
century ago made our lives and the lives of Nations freer better warmer and
nobler that was his mission that was his heartbeat and if we listen closely
enough we can hear that heartbeat even now for
it's the heartbeat of a lion a lion who not only led us but who loved us that's
why him that's why he was spared
a reading from revelation to Saint John then I saw a new heaven and a new earth
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more
and I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from
God prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and I heard a loud voice from
the throne saying see the home of God is among mortals he will dwell with them
they will be his people and God Himself will be with them he will wipe every
tear from their eyes death will be no more mourning and crying and pain will
be no more for the first things have passed away then he said to me it is
done I am the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end to the thirsty I
will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life those who
conquer will inherit these things and I will be their God and they will be my
children and the city has no need of Sun or moon to shine on it for the glory of
God is its light and the lamp is the lamb the nation's will walk by its light
and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it its gates will never
be shut by day and there will be no night there the word of the Lord
do you remember where you were the summer you left your teenage years
behind and turned 20 well I was working as a laborer in my hometown in northern
Quebec trying to make enough money to get back into law school it was a tough
job but I was safe and secure and had the added benefit of my mother's home
cooking every night on September 2nd 1944 as we have just heard so eloquently
from John 20 year old lieutenant George Bush was preparing to attack Japanese
war installations in the Pacific he was part of a courageous generation of young
Americans who led the charge against overwhelming odds in the historic and
bloody battle for supremacy in the Pacific against the colossal military
might of Imperial Japan that's what George Bush did the summer he turned 20
many men of different talents and skills have served as president and many more
will do so as the decades unfold bringing new strength and glory to these
United States of America and 50 or a hundred years from now as historians
review the accomplishments and the context of all who have served as
president I believe it will be said that in the life of this country the United
States which is in my judgment the greatest Democratic Republic that God
has ever placed on the face of this earth I believe it will be said that no
occupant of the Oval Office was more courageous more principled
and more honorable than George Herbert Walker Bush George Bush was a man of
high accomplishment he also had a delightful sense of humor and was a lot
of fun at his first NATO meeting in Brussels as the new American president
he sat opposite me actually that day George was taking copious notes as the
heads of government spoke we were all limited in time but you know it's very
flattering to have the President of the United States take notes as you speak
and even someone as modest as me threw in a few more adjectives here and there
to extend the pleasure of the experience after president met aha
Prime Minister Thatcher and Chancellor Kohl had spoken it was true the turn of
the prime minister of Iceland who as President Bush continued to write went
on and on and on and on ending only when the
Secretary General of NATO firmly decreed a coffee break George put down his pen
walked over to me and said Brian I've just learned the fundamental principle
of International Affairs I said what's that George he said the smaller the
country the longer the speech
in the second year of the Bush presidency responding to implacable
pressures from the Reagan and Bush administration's the Soviet Union
imploded this was in my judgment the most epical
event political event of the 20th century an ominous situation that could
have become extremely menacing to world security was instead deftly challenged
by the leadership of President Bush into the broad and powerful currents of
freedom providing the Russian people with the opportunity to build an
embryonic democracy in a country that had been ruled by czars and tyrants for
over a thousand years and then as of the Berlin wall collapsed soon thereafter
and calls for freedom cascaded across Central and Eastern Europe leaving
dictators and dogma in the trashcan of history no challenge no challenge
assumed greater importance for Western solidarity than the unification of
Germany within an unswerving NATO but all fears in Western Europe and
unrelenting hostility by the military establishment in the Soviet Union and
the Warsaw Pact rendered this initiative among the most complex and sensitive
ever undertaken one serious misstep and this entire
process could have been compromised perhaps irretrievably there's obviously
no more knowledgeable or competent judge what really happened at this most vital
juncture of the 20th century then Chancellor Helmut Kohl of Germany in a
speech to a parliamentary commission of the Bundestag
Chancellor cold said categorically that this historic
initiative of German reunification could never ever have succeeded without the
brilliant leadership of President Bush much has been written about the first
Gulf War simply put the coalition of 29 disparate nations assembled under the
aegis of the United Nations including for the first time many influential Arab
countries and led by the United States will rank with the most spectacular and
successful international initiatives ever undertaken in modern history
designed to punish an aggressor defend the cause of freedom and ensure order in
a region that had seen too much of the opposite for far too long
this was President Bush's initiative from beginning to end
President Bush was also responsible for the North American Free Trade Agreement
recently modernized and improved by new administration's which created the
largest and richest free trade area in the history of the world while also
signing into law the Americans with Disabilities Act which transformed the
lives of millions and millions of Americans forever President Bush's
decision to go forward with strong environmental legislation including the
Clean Air Act that resulted in the acid rain accord with Canada is a splendid
gift to future generations of Americans and Canadians to savor in the air they
breathe and the water they drink and the forests they enjoy and the lakes rivers
and streams they cherish there's a word for this
it's called leadership leadership and let me tell you that when
George Bush was President of the United States of America every single head of
government in the world knew that they were dealing with the gentleman a
genuine leader one who was distinguished resolute and brave I don't keep a diary
but occasionally I write private notes after important personal or professional
events one occurred at walkers point in Kennebunkport Maine on September 2nd
2001 Neal and I had been spending our traditional Labor Day weekend with
George and Barbara towards the end he and I had a long private conversation my
notes capture the moment I told George how I thought his mood had shifted over
the last eight years from a series of frustrations and moments of despondency
in 1993 to the high enthusiasm that I felt at the Houston launch of the
presidential library George w's election as governor in November of that year to
the delight following Jeb's election in 1998 followed by their great pride and
pleasure with George W s election to the presidency and perhaps most importantly
to the serenity we found today in both Barbara and George they are truly at
peace with themselves joyous in what they and the children have achieved
gratified by the goodness that God has bestowed upon them all and genuinely
content with the thrill and promise of each
passing day and at that George had tears in his eyes as I spoke said you know
Bryan you've got us pegged just right and the rollercoaster of emotions we've
experienced since 1992 come with me he led me down the porch at walkers point
to the side of the house that fronts the ocean and pointed to a small simple
plaque that had been unobtrusively installed just some days earlier it read
see a vu George said Bryan this stands for ceiling and visibility
unlimited when I was a terrified 18 to 19 year old pilot in the Pacific those
those were the words we hope to hear before takeoff it meant perfect flying
and that's the way I feel about our life today see a vu everything is perfect
Barr and I could not have asked for better lives we are truly happy and
truly at peace as I looked over the waters of walkers point on that golden
September afternoon in Maine I was reminded of the Lions simple and true
but speak to the real nature of George Bush and his love of his wonderful
family and precious surroundings there are wooden ships
there are sailing ships there are ships that sail the sea but the best ships are
friendships and may they always be
relax George told me I only had ten minutes
he was very direct about it it wasn't even funny now I first met my friend my
dear friend George Bush in 1962 when my father Miller Simpson was a member of
the United States Senate and just elected and I came to after Washington
with dad to settle on his new office being vacated by one senator Prescott
Bush George's father well then we met again when my parents left Washington
and sold their home to a brand-spanking-new congressman from
Texas named George Herbert Walker Bush so George and Barbara mom and pop did
that sale on a handshake sound familiar then I came to the Senate in 1978 and
soon after that Ronald Reagan cornered me and asked me to support him for
president and I said I would not knowing that my friend George would enter the
fray hearing that I called and I said George want to tell you I'd love to help
but I'm already committed to Ronald Reagan George's response well hell I'm
sorry about that I probably should have let you know sooner and actually a guy
doesn't get very many calls from a friend who says they can't support him
sound familiar of course it does because in George Bush
his theme of life during all the highs and lows there was a simple credo what
would we do without family and friends and when he became vice president our
friendship enjoyable friendship was refreshed and the four of us had many
many pleasant times together and my life in Washington was rather tumultuous
I went from the asocial list to the Z and never came back to the a head
in one dark period I was feeling awful low and all my wounds were
self-inflicted all of them and George called me early one morning always early
in the morning country music playing in the background
and he said AHA I see the media is shooting you pretty full of holes
actually he said it a bit more pungently than that and he said why don't we go to
Camp David you and then come over and we'll have a weekend together at that
time his popularity rating was 93% lion was point you know in the tree house so
off we went media of course all gathered as we
headed to marine one and George said now wave to your pals over there in the
media Al and they didn't wave back
so next morning he's wrapping the strew all the papers in the US and he looks up
and he said haha here's the one I've been looking for a picture of Barbara
and and George with his arm and hand on my back and later we're having a sauna
and I said George I am NOT unmindful as to what you are doing you are propping
up your old wounded duck towel well you're at the top of your game you reach
out to me while I'm tangled in rich controversy and taking my lumps and he
said yep there were staff members ell who told me not to do this but Al this
is about friendship and loyalty sounds familiar well we have an awful
lot of fun too always a delight to be in the president's box at the Kennedy
Center off to a play at the National Theater of the Warner with the bushes
and outside of the president's box one evening there was a massive six-foot
vase but an extraordinary glaze I hope you know the difference to here in a
vase and of Oz thirty-five bucks
now George walked up to it and he said he'll wait I think that's at Ruskin I
noticed that he said this blue gray glaze from that period the clay that
could only be found during that era and I said no no George
the patina there gives me the perception it was possibly older perhaps of Greek
origin with that particular herbal paste before firing of course people get their
ground mumbling about these expert observers and Barbarin and finally came
by and said get out of here both of you get back to that box well we did well it
was impressive for a while and then of course one night the four was one to see
Michael Crawford singing the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber all four of us were
singing as we went back to the white house don't cry for me Argentina
and tidbits from Phantom of the Opera and other magic of Weber and a few days
later he's getting hammered by the press for some extraordinarily petty bit of
trivia and suddenly he sings out don't cry for me Argentina the press then
wrote that he was finally losing his marbles
now these honored guests right here before us who have held this noble post
know all of the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune he was a class act
from birth to death he has the strong sinews in mind and body gained from that
extraordinary mother we compared our mothers as veiled with hammers of course
and certainly most awesome fathers the history books will and are treating him
most fairly while uncovering some other powerful traits his great
competitiveness his raw courage and his self-discipline
recall the Andrews Air Base Conclave where congressional participants drafted
a remarkable bill that dealt with two-year budgeting entitlement reform
comprehensive and catastrophic health care Social Security solvency and much
more but it required a critical ingredient called revenue translated
into the word taxes translated into the words read my lips
and the group went to George and said look we can get this package done but we
must have some revenue and he said I'll never forget he said what I have said on
that subject sure puts a hell of a lot of heat on me and then they all said yes
but we can get it done and it will be bipartisan and George said okay go for
it but it will be a real punch in the gut
well I'll dole them a loyal warrior for George took it back to the Senate and we
want a very strong bipartisan vote and what order the house for his own party
turned on him surely one of the main factors assuring his return to private
life but he often said when the really tough choices come is the country not me
it's not about Democrats or Republicans it's for our country that I have fought
for and he was a man of such great humility those who travel the high road
of humility in Washington DC are not bothered by heavy traffic
and he had a very serious flaw known by all
close to it he loved a good joke the Richard the better and he threw his head
back and give their great laugh but he never ever could remember a punchline
and I mean never so the punchline for George Herbert Walker Bush is this you
would have wanted him on your side he never lost his sense of humor humor is
the universal solvent against the abrasive elements of life
that's what humor it he never hated anyone he knew what his mother and my
mother always knew hatred corrodes the container it's carried in the most
decent and honorable person I ever met with my friend George Bush one of
nature's noble men his epitaph perhaps just a single letter the letter L for
loyalty if course through his blood loyalty to
his country loyalty to his family loyalty to his friends loyal to the
institutions of government and always always always a friend to his friends
none of us were ready for this day we mourn his loss from our own wives and
what he was to each of us that is so personal so intimate so down inside it
would have been so much easier to celebrate his life with him here but he
is gone irrevocably gone so now we we have loosed our grip upon him but we
shall always retain his memory in our hearts God has come now to take him back
we all knew on one unknown day he would return to his God
now we give him up we commend him to your loving hands thank you for him God
rest his soul
in the long and honored history of America there are names like
those who pay the last and fine
my chance for desperate circumstance
a grateful nation bars its head in sorrow landing thanks for guarantee
last measure of devotion that's what they gave to the
there are defaults and all they cannot hear
distributor lives
beyond the call of duty with a TV
they joining us
of devotion beyond the call of duty worthy
last measure long he gave himself to serve the praetor
nice warning
distinguished guests including our presidents and first ladies government
officials foreign dignitaries and Friends
Jed Neil Marvin daro and I and our families thank you all for being here I
once heard it said of man that the idea is to die young as late as possible at
age 85 a favorite pastime of George HW Bush was firing up his boat to fidelity
and opening up the three 300 horsepower engines to fly joyfully fly across the
Atlantic with the Secret Service boats straining to keep up at age 90 George HW
Bush parachuted out of an aircraft and landed on the grounds of st. Anne's by
the sea in Kennebunkport Maine the church where his mom was married and
where he worshipped often mother like to say he chose the location just in case
the chute didn't open
in his 90s he took great delight when his closest pal James a baker smuggled a
bottle of Grey Goose vodka into his hospital room apparently it paired well
with the state Baker had delivered from Morton's to his very last dazed as life
was instructive as he aged he taught us how to grow with dignity humor and
kindness and when the good Lord finally called how to meet him with courage and
with the joy of the promise of what lies ahead one reason dad knew how to die
young is that he almost did it twice when he was a teenager a staph infection
nearly took his life few years later he was alone in the Pacific on a life raft
praying that his rescuers would find him before the enemy did God answered those
prayers it turned out he had other plans for George HW Bush for dads part I think
those brushes with death meeting cherished the gift of life and he vowed
to live every day to the fullest dad was always busy a man in constant motion but
never too busy to share his love of life with those around him he taught us to
love the outdoors he loved watching dogs flush a covey he loved landing the
elusive striper and once confined to a wheelchair he seemed happy a sitting in
his favorite perch on the back porch at walkers point contemplating the majesty
of the Atlantic that horizons he saw were bright and hopeful he was a
genuinely optimistic man and that optimism guided his children and made
each of us believe that anything was possible
he continually broaden his horizons with daring decisions
he was a patriot after high school he put College on hold and became a Navy
fighter pilot as world war ii broke out like many of his generation he never
talked about his service until his time as a public figure forced his hand we
learned of the attack on chichi Jima the mission completed the shoot-down we
learned of the death of his crewmates whom he thought about throughout his
entire life and we learned of the rescue and then another audacious decision
he moved his young family from the comforts of the East Coast to Odessa
Texas he and mom adjusted to their arid surroundings quickly
he's a tolerant man after all he was kind and neighborly to the women with
whom he mom and I shared a bathroom in our small duplex even after you learned
their profession ladies of the night
dad could relate to people from all walks of life
he was an empathetic man he valued character over pedigree and he was no
cynic he looked for the good a nice person and he usually found it dad
taught us that public service is noble and necessary that one can serve with
integrity and hold true to the important values like faith and family he strongly
believed that it was important to give back to the community and country in
which one lived he recognized as serving others enriched the giver soul to us his
was the brightest of a thousand points of light in victory he shared credit
when he lost he shouldered the blame he accepted that failure is a part of
living a full life but taught us never to be defined by failure he showed us
how setbacks can strengthen none of his disappointments could compare with one
of life's greatest tragedies the loss of a young child Jeb and I were too young
to remember the pain and agony he and mom felt when our three year old sister
died we only learned later that Dad a man of quiet faith prayed for her daily
he was sustained by the love of the Almighty and the real and enduring love
of her mom dad always believed that one day he would hug his precious Robin
again he loved to laugh especially at himself he could tease a needle but
never out of malice he placed great value on a good joke so I chose Simpson
to speak
on email he had a circle of friends with whom he shared or received the latest
jokes his grading system for the quality of the joke was classic George Bush the
rare sevens and eights were considered huge winners most of mauve color George
Bush knew how to be a true and loyal friend he nurtured and honored many his
many friendships with a generous in giving soul there exist thousands of
handwritten notes encouraging or sympathizing or thanking his friends and
acquaintances he had an enormous capacity to give of himself many a
person would tell you that dad became a mentor and a father figure in their life
he listened and he consoled he was their friend
I think of Don Rhodes Taylor Blanton Jim Nantz Arnold
Schwarzenegger and perhaps the unlikeliest of all the man who defeated
him Bill Clinton my siblings and I refer to
the guys in this group as brothers from other mothers he taught us that a day
was not meant to be wasted he played golf at a legendary pace I always wonder
why I insisted on speed golf he's a good golfer well here's my conclusion he
played fast so he can move on to the next event to enjoy the rest of the day
to expend his enormous energy to live at all he was born with just two settings
full throttle then sleep
taught us what it means to be a wonderful father a grandfather and
great-grandfather he was firm in his principles and supportive as we began to
seek her own ways he encouraged and comforted but never steered we tested
his patience I know I did but he always responded with the great
gift of unconditional love last Friday when I was told he had minister live I
called him the guy answered the phone said he I think he can hear you but he
hadn't said anything for most of the day I said dad I love you and you've been a
wonderful father and the last words he would ever say on earth were I love you
too to us he was close to perfect but not totally perfect his short game was
lousy he wasn't exactly Fred Astaire on the dance floor the man couldn't stomach
vegetables especially broccoli
and by the way he passed these genetic defects along to us
finally every day of a 73 years of marriage dad taught us all what it means
to be a great husband he married a sweetheart he adored her he laughed and
cried with her he was dedicated to her totally in his old age dad enjoyed
watching police show reruns volume on high
all the while holding mom's hand after mom died dad was strong but all he
really wanted to do was hold mom's hand again of course dad taught me another
special lesson he showed me what it means to be a president who serves with
integrity leads with courage and acts with love and his heart for the citizens
of our country when the history books are written they will say that George HW
Bush was a great president of the United States a diplomat of unmatched skill a
commander-in-chief of formidable accomplishment and a gentleman who
executed the duties of his office with dignity and honor in his inaugural
address the 41st president of the United States said this we cannot hope only to
leave our children a bigger car a bigger bank account we must hope to give them a
sense of what it means to be a loyal friend a loving parent a citizen who
leaves his home his neighborhood and town better than he found it what do we
want the men and women who work with us to save when we are no longer there that
we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us or that we stopped to
ask if a sick child had gotten better and stayed a moment there to trade a
word of friendship well dad we're gonna remember you for exactly that and much
more and we're going to miss you your decency sincerity and kind soul will
stay with us forever so through our tears let us know the blessings of
knowing and loving you a great and noble man the best father a son or daughter
could have and in our grief but a smile knowing that dad is hugging Robyn and
holding mom's hand again
please stand
the holy gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew
jesus said you are the light of the world a city on a hill cannot be hidden
neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl instead they put it on
its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house in the same way let your
light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father
in heaven the gospel of the Lord
Almighty God of all comfort console us of all light strengthen us of all love
inspire us to love you and to love those you send our way amen
well please be seated it is a tremendous honor to follow these
speakers and especially someone whom I admire so much our 43rd president sir
your father always welcomed my visits and never made me feel rushed and always
said thank you for coming never made me feel like I was going on too long your
mother
usually said good sermon too long I got your email
you're a lot like your mother
ladies and gentlemen children of God when death comes as it does to us all a
life has changed not ended and the way we live our lives the decisions we make
the service we render matter they matter to our fellow human beings to this world
that God has given to us and they matter to God and few people have understood
this as well or live their lives as accordingly as President George Herbert
Walker Bush they hear what I said lived it not earned it or strive to
achieve it it was as natural to him as breathing is to each of us President
Bush was a good man a decent man a godly man full of grace and love and equality
of absolute necessity to enter the kingdom of God humility grounded and a
desire to serve his God and all God's sent his way how do I know this because
for nearly a dozen years my wife Laura and our children and I we have laughed
with him we have fished with him President Bush brought up riding
infidelity we had that pleasure as well the Secret Service was behind us he was
at full throttle I saw many of them reaching for what I thought were
protective armor but then I realized as they followed the president they were
actually crossing themselves
we've been blessed to share meals and tears and moments of silence and prayers
and times of great strength in times of great weakness never not once did I
witness anything but care and concern for those around him the job of a pastor
a priest Iman a rabbi when dealing with someone
he or she is called to serve is to call on them to look to God to do the right
thing to serve others and to love and President Bush made my job so easy a
lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures remind us that God is light and the president
reflected that light his whole life through
he once said I'm a man who sees life in terms of missions defined and missions
completed and we recall with the light when he reminded America and her
citizens of his mission and ours to be points of light with but one aim to
leave our world better than we found it I have a political cartoon of the 41st
president I keep it in my desk with caricatured big ears he's sitting in his
death he's looking at his watch and he's saying to himself
communism is dead the wall was down apartheid is falling Mandela is free the
Sandinistas are ousted jeremy is reuniting the Cold War is over I've
returned my calls and heck it's not even lunchtime
we sometimes forget all that President Bush did for us in large part because he
preferred to shine not upon himself but to shine to others several years ago
President Bush gave me this plaque and on the backs of note Russ a good friend
gave this to me some years ago it may be of help to you in some way it reads
simply preach Christ at all times if necessary use words it remains on my
desk as a reminder that faith means more than words Jesus Christ for George Bush
was at the heart of his faith but his was a deep faith a generous faith a
simple faith in the best sense of the word he knew and will Jesus's two
greatest Commandments to love God and to love your neighbor the president loved
and served not just some but all that God sent his way he lived his own adage
that tolerance is a virtue not a vice he respected and befriended Christians of
every denomination as well as Jews and Muslims and Buddhists and Sikhs his
comrades were from every nation in race yes he was a Republican but for him
political parties were but a line in the sand to brush away in times of the
greater good of working toward his goal for all of us to be that kind or and
gentler nation the gospel that Deen ha worth diss read for us a moment ago
reminds us that Jesus told his followers to be the light of the world so that the
world could turn their hearts toward God and toward others let your light shine
before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your father
in heaven and so was President Bush his life was defined by his faith in his
service that are worthy of all those made in God's image in September of 1990
President Bush spoke to those gathered outside
those doors for the dedication of this great Cathedral and he pointed inside to
that magnificent Rose window right there from the outside and he spoke these
words from where we now stand the Rose when the high above seems black and
formless to some perhaps but when we enter we see it backlit by the Sun it
dazzles in astonishing splendor and reminds us that without faith we too are
but stained-glass windows in the dark the president understood that even in
the darkest of nights things can be transformed if handed over to the
redemptive power of the Almighty no one on that first good fraud he expected
Easter Sunday but it came it came because the light
that brought creation into being also brought wife from the grave we call that
resurrection only days ago I was humble along with members of the president's
staff his outstanding and loyal medical team so many friends Sully
who I believe has gotten more pressed than the president in the last few days
loving members of his family who called in who spoke with him throughout the day
and as our 43rd president just said inspired his last words words of love
sitting with us was someone the president liked to call his little
brother James Baker and his wife Susan as I said their been wonderful hugs and
kind works without the day kisses throughout the day
toward the end secretary Baker and I were sitting on a sofa next to one
another a few steps away and he whispered to me you know that man
changed my life a bit later secretary Baker was at the foot of the president's
bed and toward the end Jim Becker rubbed and
stroked the president's feet for perhaps half an hour the president smiled at the
comfort of his dear friend here I witnessed a world leader who was serving
a servant who had been our world's leader and what came to mind was Jesus
well that last night before his own crucifixion having said everything there
was to say he wrapped a towel around his waist and without words he washed his
disciples feet as Jesus finished he said I've set an example for you do as I have
done serve one another by this the world will know you're my disciples if you
serve and if you love one another at the end we all milt we all placed our hands
on the president we set our prayers together and then we were silent for
full long measure as this man who changed all of our lives who changed our
nation who changed our world left this life or the next
it was a beautiful end it was a beautiful beginning for a moment but a
moment only that dear point of light we know as George Herbert Walker Bush
dimmed but it now shines brighter than it ever before has and now this godly
man this servant this child of God is in the loving arms of Barbara and Robin and
the welcoming arms of our Lord who embraced him with his divine love some
have said in the last few days this is an in the
Venera but it does not have to be perhaps it's an invitation to fill the
hole that has been left behind the president so loved his church he loved
the Episcopal Church he so loved our great nation
he's so loved you his friends he's so loved every member of this family but he
was so ready to go to heaven and heaven was so ready to receive him because he
lived those two great Commandments if you want to honor him and if you call
yourself a daughter or son of God then love God love your neighbor there's no
greater mission on planet Earth my hunch is heaven as perfect as it must be just
got a bit kinder and gentler leaving behind that whole for you and me to fill
how preach Christ at all times if necessary use words so mr. president
mission complete well done good and faithful servant welcome to your eternal
home we're ceiling and visibility are
unlimited and life goes on forever amen
breaking up the dreams God in the fertile soil
I can't believe these men be to chapter in your life
it will keep me close as always it won't even see you've gone cuz our hearts in
bigots
a strong
the welcome though it's hard to let you go in the
father's hands we better light times not too long to Venice friends
Oh God
spring and drop the whole we
you
is to strengthen now you should
it bow even you come because our in the millions
a strong
and a friend
gosh don't wear oh it's hard to let you go
- this round
go inside
Thanks
to this
lifetimes not live his friends
in the assurance of eternal life given that baptism let us proclaim our faith
and say I believe in God the Father Almighty Creator of heaven and earth I
believe in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord he was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary suffered under Pontius Pilate was
crucified died and was buried he descended to the dead on the third day
he rose again he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the
Father he will come again to judge the living and the dead I believe in the
Holy Spirit the Holy Catholic Church the communion of saints the forgiveness of
sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting amen
wheat
into temptation
for our brother George let us play pray to our Lord Jesus Christ who said I am
resurrection and I am life Lord you consoled Martha and Mary in their
distress draw near to us who mourn for George and dried the tears of those who
weep you wept at the grave of Lazarus your friend comfort us in our sorrow you
raised the dead to life give to our brother eternal life
you promised paradise to the thief who repented bring our brother to the joys
of heaven
our brother was washed in baptism and anointed with the Holy Spirit
give him fellowship with all your saints
comfort us in our sorrows at the death of our brother let our faith be our
consolation and eternal life our hope
father of all we pray to you for George and for all those whom we love but see
no longer grant to them eternal rest that lied perpetual shine upon them may
his soul and the souls of all the departed through the mercy of God rest
in peace
if you breasts oh Christ to your servant with your Saints neither sigh but life
everlasting you only are immortal the creator and
maker of mankind and we are mortal formed of the earth and to earth shall
we return for so did you ordain when you created me saying you are dust and to
dust you shall return all of us go down to the dust yet even at the grave we
make our song aleluia aleluia aleluia
into your hands Oh merciful Savior we commend your
servant George acknowledge we humbly beseech you a sheep of your own fold a
lamb of your own flock a sinner of your own redeeming receive George into the
arms of your mercy into the Blessed rest of everlasting peace and into the
glorious company of the Saints in light amen now may the God of peace who
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Shepherd of the
sheep through the blood of the everlasting covenant make you perfect to
do his will working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight the blessing
of God Almighty the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be on you and remain
with you in this world in which we live this day and forevermore amen let us go
forth in the name of Christ thanks be to God
3/7
Oh
Oh
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