A Shining Light of Compassion

You may have missed it in all the pressing political and economic issues, but in late November, President & Mrs. Bush sent out their last White House Christmas card. A long-standing tradition, every annual holiday card they have mailed for these eight years has featured a special painting of a White House scene in a tasteful blend of art, Christmas greeting and a Scripture text. The 2008 cover featured a stunning painting of the Washington Monument with the smaller Jefferson Memorial in the distance as viewed from the Truman Balcony at the Executive Mansion. Artist T. Allen Lawson produced the 22" x 20" oil on linen masterpiece.

The 2008 presidential card includes Matthew 5:16 from the King James Version: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." This may seem a strange selection since dismal approval ratings for President Bush reflect the notion that he did little right during his tenure in office. However, a recent story in The Washington Times may improve the President’s image.

The paper reports that the President personally wrote to each of the more than 4,000 families who lost a loved one in Afghanistan and Iraq. Additionally, he met with more than 500 of those families and with more than 950 wounded veterans. The President never advertised these acts of compassion, but, as he made his final presidential visit, media reporters discovered it and made it newsworthy.

Commenting on the discovery, Bush said that he considers himself as "comforter in chief" who tries to help "as best I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish." He also declared, "I lean on the Almighty and Laura…." Mrs. Bush has often accompanied her husband on these many visits.

How can we reconcile the intended privacy of these acts of comfort with the text in the card that carries Christ’s command for public testimony? A subsequent verse in Matthew says, "But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…" (Matt. 6:3). Or, put a clearer way, "Don’t advertise your good works."

The Bush’s Christmas verse speaks of letting your light shine. Light is a quality or attitude, not necessarily an activity. And Matt. 6:4 reveals the relationship between private attitude and public reward: "…that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly."

The Bush’s shining light of compassion does not show up in the approval polls, but somehow The Washington Times has been used by God to reward them openly.

Thank you, President & Mrs. Bush, for sharing such a special verse in the sunset of your residence in the White House. And thanks, Washington Times, for covering a positive story and bringing these moving evidences of their compassion to our attention.

Dave Virkler

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