I know everyone didn't vote for him, but nonetheless, 

he is our president.  I'm not sure who wrote this, 

but I found it interesting and worthy to pass on.

President Bush, Our President, Our Leader

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, hi! s 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."

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.