Dear God, when I received the news that President Bush, the Son of this Great Nation, died, my heart skipped a beat. Then, in prayer I rejoiced in celebration in knowing that President Bush’s spirit had been led back to You and into the heavenly arms of his bride, Barbara, and their daughter, Robin.
Thank You for ensouling President Bush with such a spirit that thousands of Your children, like me, have been touched with acts of love and kindness which flowed from You to us through his priceless legacy of service to Your creation. While his spirit rests with You forever in Heaven, we treasure innumerable memories of meaning and worth on Earth because of him.
I thank You for the one such memory when I served as Chair of Houston’s Committee for Employment of Persons with Disabilities. I was blessed to Host the Committee’s Annual Awards Luncheon. As the keynote speaker, President Bush sat next to me.
The President had selected this occasion to present to Senator Tom Harkin the Bush Medal in recognition of the Senator’s authorship and shepherding through Congress the ADA, The Americans with Disabilities Act.
Seated next to the President for an hour that day, he treated me with the same respect and worth as a head of state, a friend, or a member of his family.
During lunch, the President asked, “Jack, may I squeeze the lemon in your tea?” I paused and asked to myself, should I show my independence or graciously accept the President’s offer? I replied, Mr. President, “Yes, I would be honored if you squeezed the lemon in my tea.” At that moment I wondered just how many people in the world ever had the chance to receive such a simple act of kindness from a great American hero.
God, thank You for such a great man, leader, peacemaker, hero, family man, patriot above partisan, and example for all of us to follow. He never boasted or bragged. His actions spoke for themselves of his greatness and of the remarkable gifts You placed in the deep well of his person hood at birth.
By the President choosing You to follow all the days of his life and in his devotion to Barbara, the love of his life, he and we are redeemed in Holy Hope that true love never dies.
President Bush, thanks for sharing lunch with me on that glorious day. I look forward to breaking bread with you again at the Lord’s Table when God calls me Home.
Oh, and thanks again, President Bush, for squeezing the lemon in my tea. Amen
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Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 120-lawyer full service firm in Houston, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to BendingAngel.com.
God – Scripture proclaims that You made me and all Your children in Your Divine image. Yet, as an earthly being, I too often find myself being less a vessel filled with Your Spirit and more a body full of meeting my wants and not the needs of others. I frequently struggle with accepting those who are different than me or who do not share my values and opinions. I am often too quick to judge, too slow to forgive or unable or unwilling to see beyond the imperfections of others.
God, in my youth, before every Thanksgiving, my mother forced me and my siblings to polish her silver. The spoons, knives, forks and serving pieces were dull and needed to be polished for the family table. At the time I resented being separated from watching TV, listening to the radio or playing card games.
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Heavenly Father – As a citizen of the greatest country on Earth, I thank you for all the blessings of living in America, one Nation under You, my God. As I exercise my Constitutional right to vote, please guide me in prayer to select the best candidates. I pray to You that those we elect across our Nation will be ones who afford America the greatest opportunity to heal and unify its people, to restore civility and peace, to respect and embrace the diversity among its people, to exercise fiscal responsibility, and to give this and future generations the greatest opportunity to live, love, worship and flower in your Kingdom. May the exercise of my precious right to vote find pleasure in Your sight. Amen.
At 14 when I graduated from Dean Junior High, I felt like a fish out of water.
God – In our prayers to You we ask for what we need or want from You. We ask You for the outcomes we want. We do so without considering the outcomes You want for us.