"I was raised on a farm... I learned my first cuss words while riding on a tractor plowing making perfect furrows... What? You don't use tractors? Oh well... praise Allah, I mean God, errr... whoever you worship."
Posted on 07/16/2004 3:01:21 PM PDT by Preacher777
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - President Bush met privately with a group of Old Order Amish during his visit to Lancaster County last Friday. He discussed their farms and their hats and his religion. He asked them to vote for him in November.
The Amish told the president that not all members of the church vote but they would pray for him.
Bush had tears in his eyes when he replied. He said the president needs their prayers. He also said that having a strong belief in God is the only way he can do his job.
This story has not been reported before. You might think an observant press follows the president everywhere, especially during a re-election campaign, but no reporter attended this meeting.
Sam Stoltzfus, an Old Order historian and writer who lives in Gordonville, spoke with a number of people present at the session with the president.
He related what happened to the Scribbler, saying the Amish “caught Bush’s heart.’’
The 20-minute meeting with Bush occurred immediately after the president addressed a select audience at Lapp Electric Service in Smoketown Friday afternoon.
An Amish woman who lives on a farm across Witmer Road from Lapp Electric that morning had presented a quilt to the president with a card thanking him for his leadership of the country.
Bush said he would like to talk to the quilter and her family.
So the Secret Service invited the family to meet the president. Friends wanted to come along, and the entire assembly eventually numbered about 60. They were evenly divided between adults and children of all ages.
The group walked together across the road to Lapp Electric.
Stoltzfus reports: “It took a while to get them through the metal detectors as these were farmers and shop men, with vice grips, pocket knives, and nuts and bolts in their pockets. Some ladies had baby gear. All pockets had to be emptied.’’
When the Amish were “found not to be a serious threat to national security,’’ they were allowed inside the office area of Lapp Electric and waited about 30 minutes for the president to appear.
“Babies got restless. Children squirmed,’’ Stoltzfus reports. “Suddenly the president and five Secret Service men stepped into the room. One housewife said, ‘Are you George Bush?’’’
The president replied in the affirmative and shook hands all around, asking the names of all. He especially thanked the “quilt frau,’’ who operates her own business selling quilts and crafts.
“He seemed relaxed and just like an old neighbor,’’ says Stoltzfus.
Bush said he had never met any Amish before and was curious about why the men were wearing straw hats rather than black wool hats. The Amish explained that they wear cooler straw in summer. Bush tried on a hat.
The president commented on the appearance of Amish farms, and an Amish man spoke apologetically about how he and his friends were not expecting to see the president and were wearing soiled work clothes. Bush said he did not mind that.
Another man remarked that he has twin daughters, as does Bush. The man said one of his twins had dreamed the night before that she was shaking hands with the president and now she actually had done that.
“One of the young girls wanted to give Bush a whoopie pie cookie,’’ Stoltzfus says. “Bush declined it. The Secret Service man took it, as presidents aren’t supposed to eat untested food.’’
At the end of the session, Bush reportedly told the group, “I trust God speaks through me. Without that, I couldn’t do my job.’’
As the president left the room, one Amish man wished him good luck in November.
“The Amish group headed back to their farms and shops,’’ reports Stoltzfus. “Mothers took their children home for a nap and went back to their sewing and gardens.’’
Bush moved along to an appearance in York County, leaving behind a group of Old Order admirers who have tales to tell for the rest of their lives.
The Scribbler column runs Tuesdays and Fridays in the New Era.
Compare this to Al Gore psychotically bellowing his infamous "betrayal" speech inside a black church.
ping
Every time I think I can't respect the President more, I read something like this......
That's great. Reminds me of how I was brought up and a lot of familes were that way back then. Fathers working hard to make a living for their families, women working hard to make home a place of love and comfort for their families to come home to and children doing chores. Girls learning how to cook and bake and take care of a home with the boys learning how to mow the lawns, repair things, pitch in to help their dad and all the while still being able to be kids. It may be Amish but it was how people raised their families. It was a nice time and I remember my growing up years well.
I have a visual of Kerry trying to "drive" one of the Amish horses with a buggy.
At that point I would pray for a runaway, with the horse escaping injury.
Kerry would have considered the location and the crowd and bragged that his dad was an amish electrician and he understood their plight....etc etc ...yada yada
You might have to explain that comment, Squantos........
I'm just glad he didn't get Munsoned.
As one who embraces technology for a living (I'm an IT Director in corporate America) there is a secret gpart of me that thinks that maybe the Amish had the right idea all along.
Can't prove. don't mean to. Just a suspicion.
Each of us is made in the image of the Lord and is here on Earth to serve the Lord. When we truly, in humility, submit to the Lord - then we are open and receptive to the Lord. Each of us is then, properly, a conduit for the Lord's wishes here on Earth. But without faith and humility and without discarding of the old 'I, me, and my', this will not occur. President Bush is only stating what every person of true faith knows; and he is speaking as but one of an infinite number.
Big contrast between this and what the Kerry/Edwards ticket considers "the heart and soul of America."
Ooooh is that ever insightful! You are right on. What could be more anti-Whoopi than the wonderful yoopers way up north or the plain people on their midwestern farms?
This is the kind of comment which drives the militant secularists crazy. But having met with four people for the past three-and-a-half years to pray for the President, our nation, Congress, the courts, our soldiers, the war on terror, and our nation's culture, I'd have to say that I believe he's correct. We pray that God would lead Pres. Bush as he leads this nation; we pray that Pres. Bush would approach his job with humility, and with his eye on God; we pray that Pres. Bush would have a servant's heart. We pray that God would use Pres. Bush to achieve His will for this nation. I believe God has answered our prayers.
He has a bit of a Texas slur, as I noticed when I heard him speak Wednesday. Perhaps he said "to" rather than "through" and because of the different accent was misunderstood. Happens all the time in different regions of the country. "To" makes a lot more sense in the context of not being able to do his job.
Beautifully said, Joanie. I have never met any Amish people but I would like to.
I can attest that God speaks through the President. This story has got me thinking about so many things I know I need to do and think about. Like, pray the vote. And how important it is to know that there is a reward for doing good things in the open to be "seen", and another kind of reward for doing good things because it is the good, right thing to do. Very thought provoking, soul searching thread!
Yeah, it could be a Bush-ism. Frankly, I'm not upset about the other verbiage. I hope God speaks through me in the things I do and say around people. Coming from someone like Clinton, such a comment would be the height of arrogance. Coming from Bush, it is an example of humble service to the Lord.
bump
I was in Texas a few years back and couldn't understand A WORD of what some people were saying, their accents were so thick. It's the weirdest feeling, to know you are hearing English but not being able to make any sense of it.
And by the way, they couldn't understand me either. Blank stares.... It's a huge country.
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