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.