A Parent’s Love?
TimeWatch Editorial
November 10, 2015
So often we see parents ashamedly confessing their horror at the shocking and for the most part unexplainable behavior of their children. In the wake of the Aurora movie theater shootings, James Holmes mother, Arlene; father, Robert; and sister, Chris, issued a statement saying: "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved." They are not the only ones bound forever to such horrible misfortune, spending sleepless nights wondering what could have caused their child to do this. Remaining at home with windows closed, they venture out only when absolutely necessary, avoiding eye contact with strangers, avoiding former friends.
One can only describe such an experience as a paralyzing shock. The pain within causes every bone to shake; Causing the heart to tremble. Hoping that as time goes by the pressing weight upon the soul will lessen, they soon discover that the wound will never heal. For a parent’s pain for a child in trouble never goes away. Those who have never gone along this narrow road will think all this improbable. But the quiet moments, spent alone will always be the worse. As the hours accumulate the thoughts amass until the weight is much too much to bear.
This then must be the burden that the 41st President of the United States has borne. The frankness and clarity of his reported opinions against the Iraq war, and his clear criticism of Cheney’s and Rumsfeld perverse character in the book: Destiny and Power: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush, can only have come from years of wondering ‘why has my beloved son allowed men, who clearly demonstrated their selfish and heartless agendas, to influence actions that in the long run would result in irredeemable consequences for the United States and for the world.’
The conflict of soul was clear, as plans for the Iraq war swiftly preceded, George H.W. Bush did speak out through his representatives against the idea and implementation of the war. James Baker, his former Secretary of State, and Brent Scowcroft, his former National Security Adviser, were quite articulate regarding their opinions. Protocol and parenthood would have prevented Bush senior from voicing his opinion publicly during the presidency of his son, but now, one can only imagine the pain he must have felt.
Not only was there a fraudulent pursuit of a war based upon manufactured evidence but an obvious mishandling of the execution and aftermath. The aftermath continues and has expanded beyond all imagination. The arbitrary removal of stabilizing elements, albeit corrupt, were no more corrupt at their removal than they were when the United States had utilized them, has created a vacuum that has been filled by an unimaginably worse combination of forces. Even at the age of 91 with all his attendant medical challenges, this is clear to George H.W. Bush. So he speaks, not to destroy his son’s reputation, I am reasonably sure, but to ease the pain that rests upon his heart.
For us whose children have not reached the highest office of the land, our love should be the same. Rebuke, correction, molded with love and direction will demonstrate our true affection for those whom God lent us. Even when they fail to follow the example we have set, like Bush Junior’s failure to follow Bush senior’s decision not to go into Iraq once he had driven Sadaam out of Kuwait, we must still love, and correct.
Cameron A. Bowen
