President Bush met with religious leaders recently, and Christianity Today has compiled a complete transcript of the meeting in an online resource: Bush Calls for 'Culture Change'. Following is one excerpt.
And finally, I say to people all the time, "Thank you for your prayers." Something's happening in America. Although I'm not the perfect guy because the focus groups I tend to be in front of are loud, are large, and you know, pretty well made up their mind. But when I'm walking the rope line people say things different than they did four years ago.
The thing they say different now than four years ago is, "Mr. President, we pray for you." That happens a lot--at least from my perspective, what I'm able to see. When I'm shaking those hands, I bet you every other person or maybe every third person says, "Mr. President, my family prays for you."
It's not, you know, "Good luck, I hope you go tear down your opponent or go do this." It is, "My family prays for you." Now I admit I'm not spending a lot of time when I'm working the rope line. I can only tell you what I hear. And that is an incredibly sustaining part of the job of president. And people say--that's why I need Father Richard [Neuhaus] around more, he helps me articulate these things--I say, "It helps a lot." And people say, "Well how do you know?" I say, "Well if I have to explain it to you how I know then you can't possibly get it. I just know." And it matters a lot. It has made being the President of the United States a heck of a lot easier to be sustained by the prayers of the people and my own personal prayers.
Just as an aside from a personal perspective, if you're interested: I read Oswald Chambers every morning. To me, he is good. He helps me understand how far I am on my walk. I mean if you can figure out everything he's saying, then you got a depth of understanding of the gospel beyond the emotional. He's a great Christian writer. And then I'm reading a devotional by the former chaplain of the Senate, Lloyd Ogilvie. And next year I'll read the One-Year Bible again. I read it every other year and a half.
People say, "When do you pray?" I pray all the time. All the time. You don't need a chapel to pray I don't think. Whether it be in the Oval Office, I mean, you just do it. That's just me. I don't say that to try to get votes. I'm just sharing that experience with you.Posted by Clifton at June 13, 2004 06:00 AM | TrackBack
Frontline on PBS had a documentary about Pres. Bush's faith this spring. It was very interesting. I guess sort of the key question behind it was "how serious is his faith?" and (okay, 2 questions) "how does it impact how he does his job as president?"
I was impressed with the documentary, because it was put together by people who obviously did not share his faith, and their work was very gracious and open.
One thing that frustrates me, though, is when Bush says stuff like "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't get it..." He said that at different points in the documentary in various clips they had included. Well, it's true, but I think he should also try to put together some kind of apologetic. At least to speak the truth of Scripture. He should try to articulate why it is prayers are effectual, for instance.
Jeannette:
Unfortunately I only got to see part of the program as the Chicago sattelite feed went out and they substituted another program instead.
I also thought the coverage pretty fair, though I did detect something of a bias that Bush seemed to use his faith for political gain (connecting with the religious right base, and so on).
I think Bush recognizes that any apologetic he may try to give is going to be reduced to a five-second sound byte. Even if fairly edited, the risk of miscommunicating may be felt to be greater than the risk of a lack of a defense. And in any case, the best apologetic is a life of Christian character.
Bush the person certainly has an obligation to witness to his faith and to give a ready defense, but since Bush the person has a 24/7 job of being Bush the President, that complicates his witness in a way it does not for you or me. I think in his case, the best witness is the witness of character, and using the bully pulpit on occasion in strategic ways. His policy of faith-based initiatives, for example, is one apologetic for the effectiveness of prayer.
Posted by: Clifton D. Healy at June 14, 2004 09:12 AM