I received this e-mail the

day after our President's speech Sept. 14. I believe this says it all

for "God's man" being at the right place at the right time.

"This was the same man

who came within a hair's breadth of losing an election in November, who

withstood the political chicanery of the Florida Democratic machine to

fix the vote count.

"This was the same man

who admitted to having a drinking problem in younger years, and whose

happy-go-lucky lifestyle led him to mediocre grades in college and an

ill-fated oil venture.

"This was the same man

who mangled syntax even more than his father, and whose speaking missteps

became known as 'Bushisms.' And on Friday (Sept. 14), this was the man

who bore the weight of the world and the responsibilities of a generation

with dignity, class, confidence, appropriate solemnity, and even much-needed

wit.

"One thing struck me during

the campaign, that difficult, roller-coaster campaign that now seems years

ago. It was that George W. Bush never seemed to get ruffled. Whether the

theft of a campaign debate video or the sudden (some would say, vicious)

release of a DUI arrest two decades ago at a key moment, 'W' did not lose

his cool. At times, his staff seemed overconfident, as did many of us.

A 350-electoral-vote win, they quietly implied ... and we optimistically

believed.

"Then they counted the

votes, miscounted others, and re-counted still others. At the end, he

was still there. Whereas Al Gore almost frantically huffed and puffed,

trying to gin up something out of nothing, Bush quietly but confidently

waited at his ranch. He didn't sit around and do nothing: that is the

mistake people have constantly made with this man, confusing lack of bluster

for absence of action. No, his team of attorneys and the iron-willed James

Baker were carrying out his orders, but 'W' stayed in the background,

confident and faithful.

"You see, it is this 'faith'

business that confounded everyone. We have had such actors and liars in

public office that we have looked skeptically whenever anyone used the

term faith.

"But this was the same

man who was the first politician ever in recent memory to name Jesus Christ

as the lord of his life on public TV. Not an oblique reference to being

'born-again' or having a 'life change.' He said the un-politically correct

like phrase, 'Jesus Christ,' to which his handlers and advisors, no doubt,

off stage, were also saying, 'Jesus Christ,' in a much different tone.

"God has a way of honoring

those who honor Him. David learned that while he was on the run from Saul's

armies. Job learned that after his time of horrible tribulation. The Messiah

said so Himself, many times.

"So this was the man who

actually put faith into practice. He actually loves those who hate him.

It is a staggering concept, so foreign in daily occurrence that few thought

it anything but grandstanding. Even one of 'W's' biggest supporters chided

the president for adhering to his 'new tone.'"

"Yet there he was, again

and again, thanking the Democrats. Appointing his enemies to high places

in his government. Inviting his former foes and their wives to private

movie screenings, and (I know, this is hard to stomach) even treating

them with dignity. See, this was the man who learned early on how faith

worked by praying for his enemies, you "heap burning coals upon their

heads."

"This was the man who

named the absolute top people in national security and defense, then caught

barbs from the politically righteous that this one didn't have the right

views on abortion or that one didn't have the right position on guns.

"And on September 11,

2001, at mid-morning, this was the man thrust into a position only known

was on his shoulders, and the responsibility of a generation was on his

soul.

"So this same man the

one that the media repeatedly attempted to tarnish with charges of 'illegitimacy,'

and the one whose political opponents desperately sought to stonewall

until mid-term elections walked to his seat at the front of the National

Cathedral just three days after the two most impressive symbols of American

capitalism and prosperity virtually evaporated, along with, perhaps, thousands

of Americans.

"As he sat down next to

his wife, immediately I knew that even if his faith ever faltered, hers

didn't. I have never seen a more peaceful face than Laura Bush, whose

eyes seemed as though they were already gazing atthe final outcome ...

not just of this conflict, but of her reward in Heaven itself. In this

marriage, you indeed got two for the price of one.

"The appropriate songs

were sung, as one said, in an almost unbearably emotional service. I,

for one, broke down innumerable times merely listening on tape delay on

the radio. How the man spoke without blubbering, I'll never know.

"Then came the defining

moment of our generation.Some people fondly recall their Woodstock days.

Others mark with grim sadness November 22, 1963, as the day America lost

her innocence. But I firmly believe when the history of this time is written,

it will be acknowledged by friend and foe alike that President George

W. Bush came of age in that cathedral and lifted a nation off its knees.

"It wasn't so much his

words, though read a decade later, they will indeed be as stirring as

any. The conflict would end, he noted, 'at an hour and time of our choosing.'

It certainly wasn't his emotion. What had to have been one of the most

stunning exhibitions of self-control in presidential history, 'W' was

able to deliver his remarks without losing either his resolve or his focus,

or, more importantly, his confidence. It was as if God's hand, which had

guided him through that sliver-thin election, now rested fully on him.

His quiet confidence let our enemies know ... and believe me, they know

... that they made a grave miscalculation.

"Now, this same man who

practiced his faith through a tough election, who steeled his convictions

even more in a drawn-out Florida battle, and who never once gave in to

the temptation to get in the gutter with his foes, this same man now lifted

the weight of the world and the responsibility of a generation and put

it on his modest shoulders as though it were another unpleasant duty.

"As he walked