Posted on 06/11/2004 9:00:42 PM PDT by nuconvert
Text of Ron Reagan Jr.'s Remarks at Father's Burial Service
The Associated Press
Jun 11, 2004
Text of remarks by Ron Reagan Jr. at Friday's burial service for former President Reagan, as transcribed by eMediaMillWorks Inc.:
RON REAGAN JR.: He is home now. He is free. In his final letter to the American people, Dad wrote, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life." This evening, he has arrived.
History will record his worth as a leader. We here have long since measured his worth as a man. Honest, compassionate, graceful, brave. He was the most plainly decent man you could ever hope to meet.
He used to say, "A gentleman always does the kind thing." And he was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word. A gentle man.
Big as he was, he never tried to make anyone feel small. Powerful as he became, he never took advantage of those who were weaker. Strength, he believed, was never more admirable than when it was applied with restraint. Shopkeeper, doorman, king or queen, it made no difference, Dad treated everyone with the same unfailing courtesy. Acknowledging the innate dignity in us all.
The idea that all people are created equal was more than mere words on a page, it was how he lived his life. And he lived a good, long life. The kind of life good men lead. But I guess I'm just telling you things you already know.
Here's something you may not know, a little Ronald Reagan trivia for you, his entire life, Dad had an inordinate fondness for earlobes. Even as a boy, back in Dixon, Ill., hanging out on a street corner with his friends, they knew that if they were standing next to Dutch, sooner or later, he was going to reach over and grab hold of their lobe, give it a workout there. Sitting on his lap watching TV as a kid, same story. He would have hold of my ear lobe. I'm surprised I have any lobes left after all of that.
And you didn't have to be a kid to enjoy that sort of treatment. Serving in the Screen Actors Guild with his great friend William Holden, the actor, best man at his wedding, Bill got used to it. They would be there at the meetings, and Dad would have hold of his earlobe. There they'd be, some tense labor negotiation, two big Hollywood movie stars, hand in earlobe.
He was, as you know, a famously optimistic man. Sometimes such optimism leads you to see the world as you wish it were as opposed to how it really is. At a certain point in his presidency, Dad decided he was going to revive the thumbs-up gesture. So he went all over the country, of course, giving everybody the thumbs up.
(UNINTELLIGIBLE) and I found ourselves in the presidential limousine one day returning from some big event. My mother was there and Dad was, of course, thumbs-upping the crowd along the way, and suddenly, looming in the window on his side of the car, was this snarling face. This fellow was reviving an entirely different hand gesture. And hoisted an entirely different digit in our direction. Dad saw this and without missing a beat turned to us and said, "You see? I think it's catching on."
Dad was also a deeply, unabashedly religious man. But he never made the fatal mistake of so many politicians wearing his faith on his sleeve to gain political advantage. True, after he was shot and nearly killed early in his presidency, he came to believe that God had spared him in order that he might do good. But he accepted that as a responsibility, not a mandate. And there is a profound difference.
Humble as he was, he never would have assumed a free pass to heaven. But in his heart of hearts, I suspect he felt he would be welcome there. And so he is home. He is free.
Those of us who knew him well will have no trouble imagining his paradise. Golden fields will spread beneath a blue dome of a western sky. Live oaks will shadow the rolling hillsides. And someplace, flowing from years long past, a river will wind toward the sea. Across those fields, he will ride a gray mare he calls Nancy D. They will sail over jumps he has built with his own hands. He will, at the river, carry him over the shining stones. He will rest in the shade of the trees.
Our cares are no longer his. We meet him now only in memory. But we will join him soon enough. All of us. When we are home. When we are free.
Always the favorite!
Naahhh..............
You need to be corrected, nuconvert, because Junior was staring straight at Michael when he said it.
Ok, please don't flame me for passing this on.
I was listening to FOX News (Brit Hume)the other day and someone who wrote a book about the Reagans was asked if Mrs. Reagan shared RWR's faith.
The reply was that while Nancy said she really admired his faith she didn't share it.
Again, just passing on what I heard on the TV.
During their post-mortem of the funeral, anti-christ matthews and howard not-so-fineman suggested that junior has a potential future in politics.
Also, they may have been plugging junior because junior is an employee of MSNBC.
Amen!!
I too have a Saviour and I'm gonna see Ron someday!!
Ron Jr. is a Democrat and he has made some pretty nasty comments about Dubya in the past. I was going to post an article from Salon.com of an interview with Ron Jr. in which you could read yourself the nasty comments; however, the bottom of the page states that you cannot print without express permission from Salon, so I didn't post it.
I knew about these comments prior to the funeral, so when I heard his remarks I knew he was speaking of Dubya --- and it really was uncalled for. Everything about the ceremonies in the past few days was well-nigh perfect. Why do this?
Last night's thread was interesting :)
You're welcome.
On several occasions, Christ castigated his followers for giving into fear of death. To Christ, it showed they lacked faith in his promise of eternal life.
In other words, if you are to follow him, Jesus demands that you believe in eternal life.
Mike is a follower of Jesus, and by saying that he is going to heaven, he is merely following what Jesus demanded of him.
He is describing his father's religious beliefs. He is discussing his humility before God. He is discussing his sense of duty. And he is distinguishing the genuineness of Ronald Reagan's faith, from the poseurs that are all too common in American politics.
There is absolutely nothing in any of that, which calls for a debate. Had he named a particular poseur, one might say the accusation was true or it was mistaken. But he has made no such accusation. And only one totally unobservant will deny that there are in fact poseurs who do wear their Faith on their sleeves, in order to be perceived a certain way by others. (Who, for an obvious example, will ever forget the tape of a laughing Clinton, suddenly donning a sombre face at the Ron Brown funeral?) Certainly Conservatives should be able to appreciate that Reagan was a lot more genuine than most politicians, in either party.
But the essential point is that it is terribly mean spirited to make an issue of how a family grieves over their beloved.
William Flax
I heard the same thing. What I heard was she didn't believe to the degree he did. She didn't say she wasn't a believer in Jesus Christ. He may have been unequally yoked with Nancy. This does not mean she was not a believer. It means she did not have the depth RR had. There are lots of nominal Christians that will be saved...barely but saved.
I believe if she was an out and out non-believer, Ron's service would have been totally different. His service was based totally on Jesus Christ his Saviour....this would have never happened if Nancy wasn't a believer. She has unfortunately made Ron the god in her life. Leaving even her kids improperly raised. In other words, her kids are screwed up. Since Patti is a ditto of her Dad...she maybe smart enough to realize her error and find the truth in the end.
As far as Nancy is concerned; my doubts are she will not have a reason to continue to live without Ronnie. I expect she will be dead within the next year. I think she survived to care for him. My Mom and Dad were married 50yrs. (and had grown up together, knowing each other almost all their lives), within 7 months of my Dad's death my Mom died. That seems to happen with couples like that.
I get a kick out of people who think how Ron Jr. feels about Bush is really important at his father's funeral. ALL HE DID, before it was picked apart here, was admire the way his own father wore his religion in the presidency. Something he thinks his dad did best, when compared to others. What difference does that make?
"You need to be corrected, nuconvert..."
okay....but be gentle......
How is he trying to distance himself from anyone, in talking about his father's sincere Faith?! He certainly was not trying to square his father's sincere Faith, with someone who uses religion to gain votes. The whole point was clearly to distinguish that Faith from the phoney show of poseurs.
It really boggles my mind, that anyone who respects Ronald Reagan, as most Conservatives certainly do, would want to try to pick apart his immediate family's shared reminiscences. It would be very interesting to explore the theology of he or she who feels justified in passing such judgments over a family's way of handling their grief!
Personally, I will pray for their comfort and spiritual peace.
What are your thoughts about the following verse? I ask honestly, not arguementatively. And thanks.
Rev 3:16 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth.
So sorry about you parents. My grandma lived for another 7 years after my grandpa died and not long before she went she said she had been waiting for those last 7 years to go.
It's not quite that easy, you still have to be careful of your actions and words.
But what say you to other posters on this thread who claim that Chris Matthews and Howard Fineman were tipped off as to what Ron was going to say? In fact, Matthews hints that Ron will be more explicit in the coming days.
If Ron begins to attack Bush, then the only outcome is to help Kerry. There's no way in hell that Reagan would have ever supported Kerry over Bush, and the kids know that. So, if that's what they start to do, then they would be the biggest scumbags in history, using the death of the greatest Conservative in modern times to push the liberal agenda. I doubt they will do that.
Roman 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The key here is 'believe in thine heart.' Otherwise it is that simple.
Lukewarm has nothing to do with it, its all about belief (not head knowledge) but heart believing.
There are lots of doctrines and traditions of men trying to change this simple message; the simple truth is stated in the above scripture.
Well if that was the case then he should be severely chastised by his mother or adopted brother Michael. That kind of brazen attack had no place in President Reagan's funeral and he should be very ashamed of himself. This also should be investigated a bit further cuz it sounds like the press knew it was coming.
I have a friend who said he accepted the Lord years ago but that was the end of it. Said the prayer and then went back to life as usual. Obiously, it was head knowledge.
The reason I asked what you thought is because I know people who feel otherwise. That just because you say you have acccepted the Lord doesn't necessarily mean you're saved. You have to live it. But if you truly are, the actions will follow.
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