Compassion. This word is on my heart. After I lost Scott, I was surrounded with compassion: from God, friends and strangers. It was the divine gift of knowing someone felt my pain with me. Compassion is an amazing blessing to the torn, bleeding soul. So yesterday I "happened" to hear the father of the fallen Navy seal, Tyrone Wood, discuss the loss of his son in the terror attack in Bengazi. It was heart wrenching, my eyes were filled with tears as he described his loss and the additional pain of knowing he could have been saved. And that he had been lied to about what happened. Then my grief for him and our country turned to outrage as he described his meeting with the President and Secretary of State when his son's body was returned. He said, "He would not look me in the eye, but looked past me." Mr. Wood tried to embrace the President but was pushed back. This hurt him so much. Here is the man entrusted with protecting the citizens of our country and his son. Keeping all of us safe is his first responsibility, and he is mumbling "sorry" to a man about to bury his son!
At this point images of George W. Bush comforting the victims of the first 9/11 flooded my memory. A phrase I heard Ann Romney say about her husband attending every funeral of every soldier in Massachusetts when he was governor. The contrast is stark and brutal. It is magnified in this tragedy which could have been avoided with the right kind of leadership.
On an early post, I listed the guidelines Moses gave in Exodus 18:21 for choosing civil leaders. Some of the qualifications were to have ability, the fear of God, to be men of truth and have a clean record of business and morality.
To this, I would add godly virtues found in scripture. High on that list would be compassion. We are sorely in need of a leader who loves people, takes his responsibility as the Commander in Chief seriously and exercises compassion in life. We do not need a "cool" President who goes on television instead of giving a press conference, and who enjoys celebrity status with entertainers. How shallow that seems.
We must focus on the good, kind and compassionate leader qualities I believe God has given Mitt Romney. We are desperate for a leader with a heart of compassion.
Pray:
* Lord, please comfort those who have lost loved ones in the battle for freedom. "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13
* Father, help us to show compassion to others. " Ephesians 4:32
* Jesus, please wrap your arms around our country as we mourn for our lost ones and select a leader who can minister to us all.
Amen
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