Ronald Wilson Reagan: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant."

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/s/e/servogod.htm ^

[Zaxis]

Servant of God, well done!

Thy glorious warfare’s past;

The battle’s fought, the race is won,

And thou art crowned at last.

With saints enthroned on high,

Thou dost thy Lord proclaim,

And still to God salvation cry,

Salvation to the Lamb!

O happy, happy soul!

In ecstasies of praise,

Long as eternal ages roll,

Thou seest Thy Savior’s face.

Redeemed from earth and pain,

Ah! when shall we ascend,

And all in Jesus’ presence reign

Through ages without end?

(words by John Lesley, 1770)

[Zaxis]

Rest in Peace, Mr. President.

[CrosscutSaw]

Thank You, Lord for Ronald Reagan. May you bless his family and comfort them.

Rest in peace, Mr. President. We love you.

[FormerACLUmember]

History has proven him the finest President of the 20th century. Go in peace, Ronald.

November 5, 1994

My fellow Americans, I have recently been told that I am one of the millions of Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer's disease.

Upon learning this news, Nancy and I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.

In the past, Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.

So now we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clear understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.

At the moment, I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life's journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.

Unfortunately, as Alzheimer's disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes, I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage. In closing, let me thank you, the American people, for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your president. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be, I will leave the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.

I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan

[boycottliberalhollywood.com]

Amen, Amen. Our greatest President has gone on to be with Jesus.

[rwfromkansas]

DAng I wish I had teh money to fly to DC to view him and pay my respects when he lay in state this week.

God bless that man.

[Aracelis]

Thank You, Lord for Ronald Reagan. May you bless his family and comfort them. Rest in peace, Mr. President. We love you.

Amen...

[pollywog]

Thank you for this thread. Thank you God for giving us such a wonderful President as Ronald Reagan!! God be with his family and the USA which Reagan loved so much.

[California74]

You know, I have read this letter several times over the years. But now that he is gone, it touches more deeply. How wonderful for him to write us this letter - it is such a comfort and inspiration to read after his passing.

Actually, come to think of it, most of the things he said during his presidency were comforting and inspiring.

[hosepipe]

"How do you tell a Socialist:- It's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an Anti-Socialist someone who understands Marx and Lenin" -Ronald Reagan

[patriot5186]

Thank you Mr. President for turning America around. God Bless you.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Amen.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I did the next best thing to being either in Simi Valley or later in DC, I signed the online Condolence Book.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Ronald Wilson Reagan: 1911-2004

We will never forget you, nor the last time we saw you, that day in 1994, as you prepared us as a nation in your most reassuring and inspirational words, for your journey into the sunset, and waved good-bye to us and "slipped the surly bonds of earth" to "touch the face of God." Your work here is complete, you will never be forgotten, Godspeed toward that bright shining city.

Look down on Earth every once in a while, smile as we remember you and continue toward that goal toward a safer peaceful world. It is not a lofty goal Mr. President, but a worthy goal that must be achieved, we shall succeed onward toward that goal with your inspired optimism, from this day forward. Mr. President, know now that we always have and still do love you.

BSF

[little jeremiah]

Every time I read that letter it makes my eyes - well, blurry for a while.

Especially now.

I consider him a great man, and a humble one. And only a humble man is truly great. Only by humbling oneself at the feet of God is one truly humble, and such humility brings great confidence.

[Allegra]

Ah, how I remember that.

I also remember watching a farewell speech Reagan gave at the '88 Republican Convention in New Orleans. I was watching on TV and was in tears throughout the whole thing.

[WillRain]

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."

Godspeed, Dutch.

[rwfromkansas]

Sent this:

I am only 21, but I am moved by his convictions and love for this country. He truly started the conservative revolution, and I have a lot to look up to in his ideals.

Too bad I was too young to remember his presidency, but when I read a speech of his or view a program about him, I know I missed out on one of the best presidents who ever served this nation.

He served with humility, grace, courage, determination, and vision. His presidency will stand the tests of time.

Mrs. Reagan, you were by his side always. You are a very special lady with the light of love shining through you. I pray that God will comfort you in this time, and that you will be comforted by the fact that you will see him again one day in glory. Hallelujah.

I only hope that my love story will be as amazing as yours when I finally find my special someone.

Know that all of America is in stunned silence right now.

We will win one for the gipper.

Peace and love to you and your family.

[PhilDragoo]

And that's about all I have to say tonight. Except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the "shining city upon a hill." The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free.

I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, wind-swept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace, a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity, and if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

And how stand the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that; after two hundred years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan revolution, the men and women across America who for eight years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all.

And so, good-bye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America

[Pegita]

>>>I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead. Thank you, my friends.

Sincerely,

Ronald Reagan<<<

----

SUNRISE

When I shall come to the end of my way, When I shall rest at the close of life's day, When "Welcome home" I shall hear Jesus say, O that will be sunrise for me ...

Sunrise tomorrow, sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise in glory is waiting for me; Sunrise tomorrow, sunrise tomorrow, Sunrise with Jesus for eternity....

W.C.Poole/B.D.Ackley

Heavenly Father, with heavy hearts and many tears, we commit our beloved President into Your eternal care. You have blessed us with his presence ... You have graced the world with his life ... as he speaks the blessed name of Jesus in Your presence, we praise the Name of Jesus here on earth. In life and in death, we praise You for Your goodness and mercy. Amen ...

[Snapple]

Reagan's Legacy

One thing about President Reagan was that he was rarely sarcastic. I teach 10th grade, and that is a very sarcastic age. I like to point out to the kids what the character Gene says in the novel Separate Peace, "It was my sarcastic summer."

Gene is so envious of his friend Finny that he makes Finny fall out of a tree. Ultimately the opimistic Finny dies.

The novel is really on the same theme as The Iliad, "the wrath of Achilleus (Gene) and its devastation." Gene, like Achilleus cheated of his war prize, believed that Finny had cheated Gene of his status as the best student in the school.

"Sarcasm is the refuge of the weak" I tell the kids. People who are sarcastic just belittle what the people who are positive achieve. I tell them that it is normal to be sarcastic in the 10th grade, but that by the time they are older they will notice that they don't need the sarcastic people around. They aren't team players. They don't lead, but just tear down other people's goals and aspirations.

We also read Shakespeare's The Tempest. The two bad guys in that story deposed a duke and tried to kill a king; these villians are full of sarcasm for another character Gonzalo, who is always very positive and optimistic. When they are on a desert island, Gonzalo believes he is in paradise, but the sarcastic ones believe they are in Hell. Gonzalo sees a garden; the courtiers see weeds.

That island in Shakespeare's Tempest could be America. The sarcastic ones always are in Hell. The optimistic positive ones are like Ronald Reagan; like Gonzalo, they believe the best is yet to come.

I think President Bush should "win one for the Gipper." He should have the courage to say that America stands for democracy in the Middle East. He should not give in to the sarcastic and pessimistic people who believe that people in the Middle East aren't ready for democracy. Those people in the Middle East are so sarcastic and negative and paranoid. They have turned the Garden of Eden into a Hell. What they need is optimism and democracy. It will take time. There will continue to be the terrorists with their hate-fulled ideology, their poisonous sarcasm and murder of real leaders; but democracy will still take root there, and the weeds of sarcasm will eventually be choked out.

President Reagan had a sign on his desk that said, "There is nothing you can't achieve if you are willing to give other people the credit." This was also the attitude of the man who lead the Pilgims on the Mayflower and became the governor of the Plymouth Colony, John Bradford. In his book, Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford gave all the credit to the people around him. He also had a good relationship with the Indians.

Reagan was the same. He gave the communist Gorbachev the credit for taking down the Berlin Wall. Gorbachev gave Reagan a piece of this wall for his library, and now Reagan will be buried near this wall. That's quite an epitaph for both of these men.