I have to admit that I shed a tear or two during the singing of In the Passion of the Lord. It wasn't just the pomp that got to me, but the contrast between that and the story about his holding a miniature of the White House in his hand, and when Nancy asked him if he knew what it was he said: "I'm not sure, but I think it has something to do with me." Here were all these dignitaries, and George Bush, Sr. actually weeping during his eulogy, and he would not have known a single person there or what it was all about. The totality of the arc of that life just got to me. He began as the hardship son of an alcoholic, became a well-known film star, eventually not only the most powerful man on earth but probably one of a handful of genuinely great Presidents... all done with astounding humility (his son said the hardest thing about having him for a dad was that he treated everyone the same)... and he completes the arc as less than the lowest of us. Time enough to talk about his mistakes (Iran-Contra, the evacuation of Lebanon), but that story is, without a doubt, a passion.
You know, it's one of those things that's so broad and deep that it could bless even his worst enemies, had they but the wisdom to receive it in a spirit momentarily clear of ancient bitterness.
Posted by Demosophist at June 11, 2004 01:55 PM | TrackBack