Another Bush has died.

Spring has finally appeared in the Dordogne. This means that work on the inside of the house will wind down, and work in the garden will have to increase (where are people like my cousin-in-law name-sake, when I need them?)!! Lack of water will, of course, ensure the death of any bush, or any other plant - although I have also discovered that over-watering brings its own problems!

However, the Bush in the heading was not a plant, but a human being - Barbara Bush, wife of one President of the USA and mother of another. She has been described as "the no-nonsense first lady who ran the family that ran the country." (Newsweek), and the current POTUS and FLOTUS noted that "she will be long remembered for her strong devotion to country and family."

During the illness that resulted in her death, the Washington Post published an insightful story about Barbara Bush and her family that may help to explain her remarkable character. The daughter of a New York publishing executive, she met her future husband in 1941 at a country club dance in Greenwich, Connecticut. She was sixteen years old. They became engaged in the summer of 1943 and were married in 1945. Their first son, George Walker Bush, was born on July 6, 1946, as his father was completing his studies at Yale. Two years later, they moved to Odessa, a town in West Texas. They were transferred briefly to California before moving to Midland, where their family settled into the oil business. 

In 1953, their three-year-old daughter, Robin, fell ill with leukemia. Eight months later, she died. Barbara Bush was twenty-eight. The tragedy turned her hair white and has marked her family for the rest of their lives. She later explained what sustained her through the worst pain a mother can know: “We believed in God and that made an enormous difference in our lives then and now.” She also said, “Because of Robin, George and I love every living human more.”

Her life priorities – faith, family, service – have inspired millions since. But she is dead!

Earlier, on my Facebook page, a nursing friend had posted a video of a gentleman named Tom who, we learn, "... has his own internal defibrillator, which thankfully saves his life." The gentleman had experienced a heart attack, but this ingenious implant ensured that he lives to see another day. One day, however, the internal defibrillator will not be sufficient. One day, sadly, Tom also will die!

Two people - one known to millions; the other known to few. But, as people used to say, "Death is no respecter of persons"! Rich, or poor; tall, or short; black, or white; male, or female; IQ of 150, or IQ of 50; whoever you are, whatever you are; you cannot escape physical death. It is an incontrovertible statistic - 100% of people die!

Death seems to be frequent topic on this blog at this time. Perhaps it is as my own days advance, and I am acutely conscious that I have much less time on this earth. At the end, I am assured that there is a judgment! "... it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, ..." (Heb.9:27). The verdict will not be based on my own (few!) 'good works', but solely, and fully, on my relationship with Jesus, the Christ, and my acceptance of His sacrificial death at Calvary. If I am in Him, and He is in me, then I am already acquitted. If not, then my eternal destiny is equally fixed - but it is not in His presence!

How do you feel about your certain death? It is, of course, in our contemporary, 'progressive', sexually permissive, politically 'correct', culture, something about which we tend not to speak. But that is what may be termed the "ostrich syndrome". "If I don't see you, you aren't there"! That, is a dangerous, as well as a foolish attitude to take!

I pray for the Bush family in their bereavement. I trust that Tom will have a few more years to enjoy life. But I also pray that many of those who read this blog will ensure that, when their own time comes, they are ready! Further information in some of the links below, or by contacting me at the e-mail address above. It is not my primary e-mail address, so I don't check it every day. However, be assured that, as soon as I read your e-mail, you will receive a response.

Trumped!

So - the fat lady has sung; the votes have been counted; the people have spoken. Contrary to what the pollsters had predicted; contrary to what the MSM had pushed; contrary to what the establishment had expected; Donald Trump has trumped Hillary Clinton, and is now the President-elect of the USoA.  In January, all other things being equal, he will be sworn-in as the 45th man to enter the Oval Office, and take his place as President. Whatever else may be said, it is clear that "the establishment" has, once again, suffered a bloodied nose.

I have always stated that I had no time for Donald Trump the billionaire, who seemed to think that he could ride rough-shod over anyone and anything, simply because of his great personal wealth. However, I have also been constant in my belief that, given the stark choice available (and none of the other candidates actually counted in the final ballot) then I would have been obliged to cast my vote for Trump.

So what may we expect from President Trump after he is officially inaugurated on Jan 20th (D.V.)?  I suspect that there will be some surprises, in that he will begin to fulfil the promises he made!  You see, he is not a professional politician who will, as an Obama advert stated about a certain Mrs Clinton: "say anything and do nothing" (2008 Democratic Primaries)! I also believe that his Vice-President will most certainly hold him to his word!

Dr Jim Denison, CEO of the Denison Forum on Truth and Culture, has written a paper on the Trump victory. The first point he makes concerns the USoA Supreme Court.  He writes: "Mr. Trump could nominate as many as four justices to the Supreme Court. The late Antonin Scalia's seat will be the first to be filled. If Mr. Trump nominates and the Senate confirms a conservative justice, he or she will join Chief Justice John Roberts, Samuel Alito, and Clarence Thomas to compose a four-justice conservative bloc. Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer will remain a four-vote liberal bloc, with Anthony Kennedy as the swing vote. However, Ginsburg and Breyer are eight-three and seventy-eight years old, respectively. Assuming they retire during his administration, Mr. Trump could then nominate young justices to form a six-vote majority for decades to come. If Anthony Kennedy retires (he is eighty years old), Mr. Trump could create a lasting seven-vote majority. In addition, he will be able to fill nearly one hundred vacancies in the federal district and circuit courts, with more to come during his term."

Such appointments would have a major effect on the whole Justice system of the USoA that would, in my opinion, be for the good.  "As the Supreme Court hears cases regarding abortion, transgender rights, marriage, and a host of other social issues, its ideological composition is of crucial importance ..." (JD; op.cit.).

Of course, there is a sense in which Mr Trump's "trump card" was the outgoing President, Barack Hussein Obama! This man, who campaigned eight years ago with the slogan "It's time for change" failed utterly to fulfil the high hopes that so many had in him. He turned out to be like so many modern preachers - all talk, and no substance!  (What was it he said about Hillary Clinton?!!!).  The cliché at the time, which became more relevant later, was about how he campaigned in poetry but would govern in prose. Some prose can be magnificent: but not his!

Mr Obama is clever, and has a way with words: but his words contain little. He entrances audiences, both in his own party – which is why he beat Hillary Clinton, arrogant and boring then as now, for the 2008 nomination - and then in the wider electorate. His failure to deliver was, surely, part of the reason why voters were ready for a real change - a man who was not a part of the establishment, and who is not in anyone's pocket!

What does the disciple of Jesus, who could not support Donald Trump (and there were many!) do now. May I suggest that they do what those of us who were so anti-Clinton (fraud, sleaze, partial-birth abortion, deceit, lies, dubious (and very large) cash donations, etc.) that we came across as Trump supporters will be doing? Paul exhorts us, in his first letter to Timothy:"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way. This is good, and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (I Tim 2:1-4; emphasis added).  Yes, let us pray for Donald Trump as he takes on the responsibility that comes with the high office to which he has been elected.

It may well be that, as He said to Ananias concerning that arch-persecutor of the early church - Saul of Tarsus - the Lord is saying of Donald Trump: "... he is a chosen instrument of Mine ..." (Acts 9:15); that Trump is, in fact (and as was prophesied before the election!), God's man for the moment. He has used unbelievers in the past; He can use an unbeliever today. Of course, there have been reports, that appear to be credible, that Donald Trump has been converted. If that is so, then he will need our prayer-support even more as the enemy endeavours to pull him back!

The next four years, should the Lord tarry that long, should be very interesting. However, let us remember that the Sovereign God of the universe is still on the throne - and is working out His own purposes, in His own way, to His own glory!