Office Spam™

I think all of us have an inner hope that the most powerful man in our country is worthy of the responsibility and authority that we bestow upon them through our vote.

I admit that part of me was afraid that I would be let down by the moment -that the person and the place could not meet the lofty expectations of my fantasy world. This says nothing about my esteem for President Bush but just my practical realization that reality may not match my 'dream.'

Once inside the office, President Bush got right down to business and, standing in front of his desk, handed out the awards one at a time while posing for photos with the winners and Mrs. Bush. With the mission accomplished, the President and Mrs. Bush relaxed and initiated a lengthy, informal conversation about a number of things with our entire small group.

He and the First Lady talked about such things as the rug in the office. It is traditionally designed by the First Lady to make a statement about the President, and Mrs. Bush chose a brilliant yellow sunburst pattern to reflect 'hope.' President Bush talked about the absolute need to believe that with hard work and faith in God there is every reason to start each day in the Oval Office with hope.

He and the First Lady were asked about the impact of the Presidency on their marriage and, with an arm casually wrapped around Laura, he said that he thought the place may be hard on weak marriages but that it had the ability to make strong marriages even stronger and that he was blessed with a strong one. After about 30 or 35 minutes, it was time to go. By then we were all relaxed and I felt as if I had just had an excellent visit with a friend.

The President and First Lady made one more pass down the line of Awardees, shaking hands and offering congratulations. When the President shook my hand I said, "thank you Mr. President and God bless you and your family." He was already in motion to the next person in line, but he stopped abruptly turned fully back to me, gave me a piercing look, renewed the vigor of his handshake and said, "Thank you - and God bless you and yours as well."

On our way out of the office we were to leave by the glass doors on the west side of the office. I was the last person in the exit line. As I shook his hand one final time, President Bush said, "I'll be sure to tell Marc hello and give him your regards." I then did something that surprised even me. I said to him, "Mr. President, I know you are a busy man and your time is precious. I also know you to be a man of strong faith and have a favor to ask you."

As he shook my hand he looked me in the eye and said, "Just name it." I told him that my step-mom was at that moment in a hospital in Kalispell, Montana, having a tumor removed from her skull and it would mean a great deal to me if he would consider adding her to his prayers that day. He grabbed me by the arm and took me back toward his desk as he said, "So that's it. I could tell that something is weighing heavy on your heart today. I could see it in your eyes. This explains it."

From the top drawer of his desk he retrieved a pen and a notecard with his seal on it and asked, "How do you spell her name?" He then jotted a note to her while discussing the importance of family and the strength of prayer. When he handed me the card, he asked about the surgery and the prognosis. I told him we were hoping that it is not a recurrence of an earlier cancer and that if it is they can get it all with this surgery.

He said, "If it's okay with you, we'll take care of the prayer right now. Would you pray with me?" I told him yes and he turned to the staff that remained in the office and hand motioned the folks to step back or leave. He said, "Bruce and I would like some private time for a prayer."

As they left he turned back to me and took my hands in his. I was prepared to do a traditional prayer stance - standing with each other with heads bowed. Instead, he reached for my head with his right hand and pulling gently forward, he placed my head on his shoulder. With his left arm on my mid back, he pulled me to him in a prayerful embrace.

He started to pray softly. I started to cry. He continued his prayer for Loretta and for God's perfect will to be done. I cried some more. My body shook a bit as I cried and he just held tighter. He closed by asking God's blessing on Loretta and the family during the coming months. I stepped away from our embrace, wiped my eyes, swiped at the tears I'd left on his shoulder, and looked into the eyes of our president.

I thanked him as best I could and told him that me and my family would continue praying for he and his. As I write this account down and reflect upon what it means, I have to tell you that all I really know is that his simple act left me humbled and believing. I so hoped that the man I thought him to be was the man that he is. I know that our nation needs a man such as this in the Oval Office.

George W. Bush is the real deal. I've read Internet stories about the President praying with troops in hospitals and other such uplifting accounts. Each time I read them I hope them to be true and not an Internet perpetuated myth. This one, I know to be true. I was there. He is real. He has a pile of incredible stuff on his plate each day - and yet he is tuned in so well to the here and now that he 'sensed' something heavy on my heart.

He took time out of his life to care, to share, and to seek God's blessing for my family in a simple man-to-man, father-to-father, son-to-son, husband-to-husband, Christian-to-Christian prayerful embrace. He's not what I had hoped he would be. He is, in fact, so very, very much more.

If you decide to forward this story...please do not add to it. Let his encounter stand as he wrote it.

This nifty piece of OfficeSpam was submitted by Jon.

"upon entering the atheist muttered his first words to the President and they were "Oh, my God."
Putin is a practicing member of the Russian Orthodox Church.
You are being misled by a criminal. If you are pursuaded by this bilge, I have some waterfront property for sell.

"conservative christian is an oxymoron"

Bruce Vincent ?? Mushroom growing medium

http://www.animalrights.net/archives/year/2004/000276.html

http://www.maninnature.com/Forestry/Heads/BVincent.html

This article can be verified by Snopes.com. It is factual. It was written by this individual.
It's always a good practise to run suspected items through Snopes to debunk a lot of the crap - or in this case to prevent yourself from putting keyboard in mouth... ;-)

Just because you write A Lie does not make it truth. Vincent writes about his worship of bush while at the same time clear cutting the national forest. Now I may be a bit thick but, don't smile at me or say you love me while you are peeing on my leg.

Applying that same skepticism to Wikipedia would serve you well. Personally, I like to apply it to anything that doesn't carry the Fox News logo. But that's just me...

That is odd now that you bring it up, I read bush attends church regularly. Probably on a wiki some where.
I get my news from jon stewart and steven colbert. Much more factual than fox is, and no sensationalism, just the facts.

Over 50% of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska has been clear-cut since 1950. Can we seriously blame all this on Bush? seems to have been a problem way before he ever even got into politics

By the early 20th century, one-third of the U.S. forests disappeared and by the 1990's the native forests standing in the lower 48 hovered around 4% of their original acreage. If i remember correctly Bush was not in office in the 90's. What is it about this president that makes him everyone's favorite whipping boy?

My guess is that his genuine faith makes people very uncomfortable. Heaven forbid we have a president that actually MEANS it when he says he is christian.

Well said Charity.

What would Jesus do?

Why didn't my picture load? My comment is ruined without the picture.

http://www.forumspile.com/IMG-Worthless_without.gif

[IMG]http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/1bastard/jesusslapbushie3ap_2.gif[/IMG]

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f277/1bastard/jesusslapbushie3ap_2.gif

I don't care if the president is a Christian, a Hindu, an atheist, whatever. I just want him to be a good president and a decent person. This man is neither.

He seems like a nice man, but if he realised that God didn't exist, he might be a bit smarter.

Vinny may well have written it but its bull shit from the start. First of all, George "Bungling" Bush cant speak to an audience without either a script in front of his face (in which case he's still likely to screw it up) or Cheney's hand up his ass moving his jaw and eyes. Second, the only thing that retard is capable of praying for is cheetos and a 2 liter of faygo...watch him sometime where prayer is involved. I've heard better dialoge from Porky freakin Pig. In short...Vincent is a liar and Bush commits crimes against humanity and his own country... IMPEACH THE COCK SUCKER AND TRY HIM FOR TREASON!!