Posted on 06/11/2004 2:48:04 AM PDT by ambrose
LIVE THREAD--Reagan State Funeral Ceremony: Lying in State at the Rotunda (6/11/04)
A text of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's tribute to President Ronald Reagan:
In the spring of 1987 President Reagan and I were driven into a large hangar at the Ottawa Airport, to await the arrival of Mrs. Reagan and my wife, Mila, prior to departure ceremonies for their return to Washington. We were alone except for the security details.
President Reagan's visit had been important, demanding and successful. Our discussions reflected the international agenda of the times: The nuclear threat posed by the Soviet Union and the missile deployment by NATO; pressures in the Warsaw pact, challenges resulting from the Berlin Wall and the ongoing separation of Germany; and bilateral and hemispheric free trade.
President Reagan had spoken to Parliament, handled complex files with skill and good humor - strongly impressing his Canadian hosts - and here we were, waiting for our wives.
When their car drove in a moment later, out stepped Nancy and Mila, looking like a million bucks. As they headed towards us, President Reagan beamed, threw his arm around my soldier and said with a grin, "You know, Brian, for two Irishmen we sure married up."
In that visit, in that moment, one saw the quintessential Ronald Reagan - the leader we respected, the neighbor we admired and the friend we loved - a president of the United States of America whose truly remarkable life we celebrate in this magnificent cathedral today.
Presidents and prime ministers everywhere sometimes wonder how history will deal with them.
Some can even evince a touch of the insecurity of Thomas d'Arcy McGee, an Irish immigrant to Canada, who became a Father of our Confederation. In one of his poems, McGee, thinking of his birthplace, wrote poignantly:
"Am I remembered in Erin
I charge you, speak me true
Has my name a sound, a meaning
In the scenes my boyhood knew."
Ronald Reagan will not have to worry about Erin because they remember him well and affectionately there. Indeed they do: from Erin to Estonia, from Maryland to Madagascar from Montreal to Monterey. Ronald Reagan does not enter history tentatively - he does so with certainty and panache. At home and on the world stage, his were not the pallid etchings of a timorous politician. They were the bold strokes of a confident and accomplished leader.
No 'Moral Equivalence'
Some in the West during the early 1980s believed communism and democracy were equally valid and viable. This was the school of "moral equivalence." In contrast Ronald Reagan saw Soviet communism as a menace to be confronted in the genuine belief that its squalid underpinning would fall swiftly to the gathering winds of freedom. Provided, as he said, that NATO and the industrialized democracies stood firm and united. They did. And we know now who was right.
Ronald Reagan was a president who inspired his nation and transformed the world. He possessed a rare and prized gift called leadership, that ineffable and sometimes magical quality that sets some men and women apart so that millions will follow them as they conjure up grand visions and invite their countrymen to dream big and exciting dreams.
I always thought that President Reagan's understanding of the nobility of the presidency coincided with the American dream.
One day President Mitterrand in referring to President Reagan said: "Il a vraiment la notion de l'Etat." Rough translation: "He really has a sense of the State about him." The translation does not fully capture the profundity of the observation: What President Mitterrand meant was that there is a vast difference between the job of president and the role of president.
Ronald Reagan fulfilled both with elegance and ease, embodying himself that unusual alchemy of history, tradition, achievement, inspiration, conduct and national pride that define the special role the president of the United States must assume at home and around the world. "La notion de l'Etat" - no one understood it better than Ronald Reagan and no one more eloquently summoned his nation to high purpose or brought forth the majesty of the presidency and made it glow, better than the man who saw his country as a "shining city on a hill"
May our common future and that of our great nations be guided by wise men and women who will remember always the golden achievements of the Reagan era and the success that can be theirs if the values of freedom and democracy are preserved, unsullied and undiminished, until the unfolding decades remember little else.
I have been truly blessed to have had a friend like Ronald Reagan. I am grateful that our paths crossed and that our lives touched. I shall always remember him with deepest admiration and affection and I shall always feel honored by the journey we traveled together in search of better and more peaceful tomorrows for all God's children, everywhere.
And so, in the presence of his beloved and indispensable Nancy, his children, family, friends and the American people he so deeply revered, I say "au revoir' today to a gifted leader, historic president and gracious human being. And I do so with a line from Yeats, who wrote:
"Think where man's glory most begins and ends and say - my glory was that I had such friends."
Now there is a man at peace....
My word. He knew death would not be the end, but on the contrary, just the beginning.
Wow.
I am in awe of this wonderful man.
President Bush's eulogy of Ronald Reagan was absolutely
magnificent. It brought all to laughter when
recounting the late President's sense of humor; then
moved us all to tears, and inspired us as well.
Most of all it reminded all of us of who he was, where
he had come from, how gentle and kind he was - praying
for John Hinckley while in the hospital before praying
to the Lord himself, for, as he wrote in his diary, how
could God hear his prayer if he still had hate in his
heart for the mixed-up young man who had shot him.
We all thought we knew Reagan - but in this last week
we learned so much more about Reagan the man - who
loved God, loved his fellow man, never had a cross word
to say about anyone, and made sure to stop by and say
hello to everyone from officials to the janitor in the
White House.
One of the most poignant stories was when he was
recuperating in the hospital after being shot - he
accidentally spilled some water at the sink; and
though very weak, the secret service man found him on
his hands and knees mopping up the water with paper
towels - looking up and remarking that he did not want
the nurses to have to do it.
He was a great president, one of our greatest ever;
He was a great American, embodying all that was, and
is, best in the American spirit;
He was a great, humble, and kind man who chose to
always believe in the best in people;
and, finally,
He was a servant of His God, who truly Did Justly,
Loved Mercy, and Walked Humbly with his God.
He is now with Maureen, his daughter, and though he
only saw through a glass darkly in his final years, he
now sees His Lord face to face.
Even his moment of death was filled with meaning; As
his breathing grew labored, and Nancy, Ron and Patti
gathered closer, a miraculous event happened - this
man, who had not spoken a word in years, this man, who
had not opened his eyes in a week, suddenly opened his
eyes for one last time, eyes not clouded, but once
again focused, twinkling, and full of life - and with
those eyes he looked deep into Nancy's eyes for a
moment, then closed them and was gone.
What happened there you say? Well, I believe that as
the last waters of life slowly ebbed from his person,
his Lord Jesus took him by the hand, and with his mind
and body restored, His Savior allowed him one last
moment here on earth as a way of telling his beloved
Nancy "It is going to be alright....I will see you
again soon..."
May God Bless Ronald Reagan, and may God bless the
United States of America.
Lanie, look at the irony in that photo! The international sign for "no left turn", coupled with "no turn on red".
Poetic justice at its finest.
George Stephalupagus talking about Reagan's Christian faith, how it was expounded upon by W and Cheney. Kinda funny to hear him talk about it! Now he and Peter Jennings are talking about our country's Christian heritage. Wow!
You're right, I hadn't noticed that!
There is something magical and soothing hearing them; something that was once a part of our Civilization and Heritage.
I am almost 99 percent sure the media pool camera will be on the services tonight. Of course I could be wrong but a media advisory was put out by the Reagan library and why else would that be done unless it is going to be shown live?
I'm pretty sturdy. I've been sheeding tears from time to time, even since news broke on Saturday last. We humans are emotionally unpredictable. But it hurts to know a good man is gone. It just plain hurts. At the same time, the glory of God trumps humans - Democrat and Republican alike. I am looking forward (but in no hurry) to greet my Savior, my father, and Ronald Reagan. We'll be singing hymns of joy!
No. What did CNN just say?
It says He will wipe away all tears. I don't know at what point in Heaven that will be.
I believe we need to pray also for Nancy's Salvation. The speaker on Fox just noted that she did not share Ronnie's firm convictions about his faith. I think she also needs to let go some unforgiveness/bitterness and that we'd do well to pray for that. Holy Spirit needs to do a work at least in Ron's Patti's and probably Nancy's hearts, minds, spirits to some significant degrees.
Worthy prayer projects.
BUBBA WAS ASLEEP DURINg the speaches
CNN isn't on my tuner either...what did they say?
This is neither the time nor the place, so to honor our great former leader, Ronald Wilson Reagan, I will refrain.
You know, I've just been sitting here thinking about what President Reagan said to Mrs Reagan on their last flight on AF1, GHWB's Inaaugural Day. As they flew over DC on the way home to California, he looked out the window, pointed out to the White House and said, Look, Honey, there is our little shack. I bet she'll remember that today.
I am without satelite at the moment, I have cspan.org, Rush, and off air Tv going at same time. A chachophany until is turn down the volume but for Rush or C-span.
The TV is for know thy enemy. Stephanopolis, btw, just commented on fact this was a religious ceremony. I don't think the media can handle that fact. I think they are angling to condemn the religious ceremony.
I think they somehow fear this an attack on state sponsored atheism.
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