CAMP DAVID—Carrie Harrison had again placed the extended family at small tables for their meals, and she and William were seated with Carrie’s mother, Shelly Roberts, and her older sister, JoAnn, who had taken back her maiden name after her husband left her fifteen years earlier. Carrie’s father had passed away five years before, but her mother was still very healthy and active. Also at the table were Jennifer—Katherine and Sarah had volunteered to give her a break from her kids during the meal—plus Rebecca and Bruce.
Before they sat down, William offered a blessing, and then the staff served the meal of oyster pie and roast pork for the adults, with hot dogs for the children.
After a few minutes of catching up, William said, “Jen, I heard about the death of the young sailor on the Fortson at a briefing. Has Hugh said anything to you about it in a call or a letter? Did he know her?”
“He apparently didn’t know her real well, but she was in his department and pretty popular. He said it was a tough blow for everyone. They found out later that she had a fiancé on board. Hugh’s been on ships where men have died, but he said that having a woman the really sort of subdued everyone. Actually I met the woman and her division officer. Hugh says she took it pretty hard, too. A real tragedy. The ship’s in Barcelona for Christmas, by the way. I hope Hugh will call; thanks for telling us how to call through the White House switchboard.”
“Oh, no problem,” William said. “I hope I’ll get to talk to him, too. I’ve always admired Hugh deeply for doing what I didn’t do and serving in the navy. What happened on his ship was a real tragedy. We’ll be praying for protection for all of them for the rest of the deployment.” Bruce looked up at the second mention of prayer and seemed puzzled.
William continued, “Rebecca, I’m sorry I missed your update on the hospital. Anything new since we were together this spring?”
“Not really. Our internal data on the morning-after pill continues to show disasterous results, both in pregnancies and in a resurgence of AIDS. And this isn’t exactly dinner conversation, so we can talk about it later, but, William, these full-term abortions are just awful.” Bruce scowled at her but kept eating.
William looked hurt. “I know, Rebecca. I’m agonizing over them... over all abortions, really.” Now Bruce turned to the president, not believing what he was hearing, as William continued, “I’ve been praying and reading on that subject. Frankly, we’re close to a new policy.”
“Which will be?” Bruce asked.
“Perhaps we’ll come out against all abortions, Bruce.”
“What?’
“We’ll see. As Rebecca said, this isn’t exactly dinner conversation. There’ve been some changes in my thinking on several issues, Bruce. We’ll have a chance to talk about them while we’re here. By the way, you certainly came off well on the TV interview.”
Bruce was obviously embarrassed that Leslie Sloane had so prominently featured the only non-family member and his views on issues and on the president. He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, well, you know those TV people do whatever they want. I had no idea they’d use so much of those interviews.”
Rebecca looked at Bruce, raised an eyebrow, and said, “And didn’t he look good in those gym shots?”
“Hey, give me a break. You didn’t look so bad yourself.”
“I’ve always wanted to know TV stars,” Shelly Roberts quipped.
OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN OFF SOUTH CAROLINA—Later that evening the first-class cabin on Air Carib flight 557 from Washington to St.Thomas was abuzz with the presence of Ryan Denning and Leslie Sloane. Ryan had hopped the shuttle to Washington that afternoon, and now they had an entire week to relax together over the Christmas holidays.
As the steward removed their main course dishes then served them more wine, Leslie in particular felt she could finally unwind after a very difficult month. In addition to the continuing story on the polygamy ruling and the probing she had discretly been doing around the White House on the president’s unusual use of a biblical reference, she was determined that at some point during the next week she would bring the future of their relationship to a head. She was too old, she felt, to become semi-permanently entangled with Ryan if marriage was not in the cards. But she would let that subject wait at least a day.
Leslie sipped her wine in the window seat. She leaned closer to him and said, “This was a great idea, Ryan. I hate not seeing my folks over Christmas, but I really need to get away.”
He smiled at her and touched his glass to hers. “We both do—and I’m just so glad you could come.”
A few moments of silence passed between them. Then she said, “You know, I’ve been following up on your question about the president, when he said that polygamy is ‘unbiblical.’ No one on the president’s team seems to think anything of it, or at least if they do, they’re not saying. But one of the vice president’s staffers told me that she’s really bent out of shape about what she calls the ‘new president.’ Apparently they had a real run-in a few months ago over his ‘truth in domestic programs’ thing, but they’ve mended their fences. Anyway, I didn’t get very far, but I do feel there’s something different about the president. It’s hard to put my finger on.
“Oh, then I had our guys just sit and watch for two weeks who’s going in and out of the White House at night and on weekends. Usually it’s just been an assortment of friends, actors, politicians, and foreign dignitaries. But two weeks ago there were apparently three different ministers who visited the White House on separate occasions. One, a Michael somebody, came twice! They haven’t been back since, and we don’t know exactly who they were visiting—maybe the daughter, Katherine. But it’s so unlike his first months in office. Anyway, that’s what I’ve found out so far.”
“Is there enough for a story?”
“Hard to say. I told Cindy to check out the three ministers while I’m away, to find out who they are and why they might have visited. I mean, it’s really the president’s business, of course, but I guess we have a right to know if he’s holding nighttime services in the White House theater!”
Ryan laughed. “Or being advised on some issues by his sister’s buddies. That’s all we need! Another Christian in the White House!”
“Really, Ryan, that’s a little far-fetched. William Harrison? It’s very possible that he was just getting some advice on this polygamy issue. After all, the nation is split into all sorts of factions on that one. I hear the VP is really fit to be tied, ready to impeach their own Supreme Court justices! She claims the whole thing is a white male heterosexual trick to put women back in bondage.”
“Good,” Ryan said. “We haven’t been blamed for anything really terrible for, let’s see, about six months now, since the equal-but-separate riots at the end of the last school year died down. I was starting to forget how to feel guilty for all that we white males have done to everyone else.”
“Oh, come on,” Leslie said and gave him an affectionate punch on the shoulder. “Hey, I’m all for individual freedom. Whoever wants polygamy, it’s fine with me. It’s the ultimate ‘do your own thing,’ I guess. If we really stand for women’s rights and abortion and gay rights, then we have to be for the right to consensual polygamy, it seems to me, and not get all hung up like the VP. Or again get worried about families like those right-wing wackos. I mean, kids may actually have more parents! Just don’t expect me to participate, though.”
“So you don’t want to meet Beth and Jane in St. Thomas?”
She raised her glass as if to pour wine on his head, but he stopped her with a kiss.
ATLANTA—Much later that night Eunice Porter let herself into her humble but immaculately kept apartment after finishing her waitressing job. She tiptoed in to check on her two sleeping children and said a prayer of thanks that her sister, who lived next door, could put them to bed every night so she could work at the restaurant.
After taking a shower and cleaning up their dinner dishes, she stole another look at each of the children in their beds, then
knelt and prayed to God to protect them.
Finally, exhausted from the schedule she kept, she went to her closet and pulled out the boxes from the department store. She opened them and looked at the two beautiful, warm coats she had purchased with part of the $500 advance from Dr. Thompson. Taking out her bag of wrapping paper, she soon had each coat wrapped in colorful paper and placed beneath the small Christmas tree.
It was early on Christmas Eve morning as she turned out her light, knowing that her young children would awake in a few hours. Tired to the point of physical pain, but determined that her children would have a chance, she lay her head on the pillow. In the instant before she was asleep, she thought, I guess I owe Dr. Thompson another baby—I’ll have to get going on that right after Christmas.
CAMP DAVID—The Harrison family awoke on Monday, Christmas Eve morning, to a thin blanket of snow from the passing front. The young children ran and jumped and hollered on the way to breakfast, insisting they could build a snowman from the meager quantity of lingering beauty. And what adult would argue with their logic on the day before Christmas?
The fires in the lodges were stoked and kept blazing all through the cold day. The children played outside while the adults tended to last-minute holiday duties, read, talked, and napped. William and Carrie spent time with each branch of the family, but they also worked together for two hours in Aspen Lodge following his abbreviated national security briefing.
The one devotional service of their stay was planned for that evening, thirty minutes after supper, so that even the youngest child could attend. Reverend Robert Ludwig had agreed to lead the family celebration of Christ’s birth, and thankfully the roads from Washington were clear for the minister and his wife, Nell, who arrived together late that afternoon.
William introduced the Ludwigs at the usual gathering before the meal, and everyone could sense the increasing anticipation in the air with each passing hour. After dinner the staff cleaned up and then rearranged the dining room seating area into a theater setting; the chapel was too cold to hold a service in during the winter. Thirty minutes later the entire family, joined by several members of the Camp David staff and Marine Guard, began following Robert Ludwig in “O Come All Ye Faithful”; it was again snowing outside.
After songs, prayers, and readings about Jesus’ foretelling in Isaiah 53 and about his birth in Luke 1 and 2, Robert Ludwig asked everyone to be seated. “At this point it would be normal for me to give a homily or sermon, and I have a short one planned. But first there’s someone here who wants to share with you his testimony about his faith. It’s only appropriate as we celebrate the birth of Christ that we also celebrate the birth of a new Christian. So I’d like you all to listen for a few minutes to our host, President William Harrison.”
William rose from his third-row seat next to Carrie and his two children and walked to the front near the Christmas tree. He turned to face the assembly and began, “I want to share with the people closest to me the great joy that has been building in this imperfect person since I gave up trying to run my life—I’d made a big mess of it in most ways—about six months ago and instead asked God’s forgiveness and accepted his Son as my Lord and my Savior. It’s been the best six months of my—our—life,” he said, glancing at Carrie, “and I finally feel that I understand how God wants me to live my life, and also what he wants to do with my life at this time. It’s an absolutely wonderful joy, and I want each of you to know how it happened, so you can listen for God’s voice in your own life as well.”
William then went on to describe his general shortcomings and frustrations—both before and after being elected—his reading about the faith of the Founding Fathers, Carrie’s conversion at Easter, and finally his own submission with Richard Sullivan in June. It was obvious to everyone listening that something very real and very powerful had overtaken this most powerful of men, something that humbled him and also gave him great peace and confidence. Both qualities seemed to flow from him as he spoke.
Then he told them that he was still a very muddy glass of old water, but that he was doing his best to replace the mud with God’s clean water, day by day, by reading, studying, and praying. He kept his testimony very personal. He could have been anyone, not the president of the United States.
As he spoke, he looked out over the listeners and saw smiles of encouragement from Mary, Graham, Carrie, and Katherine. Most of the others gave him a general look of interest or curiosity, as he shared with them the eternal truth he’d learned. And there was complete astonishment on the face of Bruce, and to a lesser extent Rebecca.
“So that’s what God has done in my life, and I give him all the glory and all the praise for his kindness and goodness. Carrie and I plan to share our faith with a wider audience soon. In the meantime, I’d like to ask all of you to respect our wishes on this and let us choose the time and place to do that. But we couldn’t let the celebration of our Savior’s birth go by without sharing our personal joy—even amazement—that God would send his Son to save sinners like us. On this night, especially, we’re reminded of his incredible love and his infinite patience. My last wish is that if God is speaking to your heart tonight, I urge you to listen carefully. Thank you.”
William sat down again and received a squeeze of the hand and a broad smile, punctuated with a tear, from Carrie. Reverend Ludwig gave a short and joyful homily on Isaiah 53, recounting the life of the great prophet and the promise of Christ’s coming 750 years before his birth. He then tied that earlier promise into the specific promise for each individuals salvation, using William’s testimony as an example of how God works out his purposes in each person’s life.
The young children began to shuffle and squirm as the service came to an end with “Joy to the World” and “Silent Night,” sung with only the lights on the tree illuminating the lodge.
After the service the family stayed together for almost an hour, talking among themselves, after which those with small children began to leave. William and Carrie finally walked back to Aspen Lodge thirty minutes later. The second snowfall had been heavier than the first, and even though it wasn’t deep, the snow was sparkingly beautiful.
As they walked, William asked, “I didn’t see Rebecca or Bruce after the service. Did they disappear?”
“I’m afraid so, dear,” Carrie answered. “As you were thanking Robert Ludwig, Bruce almost shot out the side door, pulling Rebecca with him.”
“That’s a shame. I know what I said must have been a shock to them, and I hope we get a chance to talk together about it. I wonder how I’ll do trying to explain my faith one-on-one—sort of like the evangelism Joe was talking about. But at least I know exactly how they feel! God was so incredibly patient with my own pride and arrogance.”
They walked on. As they started up the steps of the lodge, William said, “For a moment, as I looked out at the falling snow during the service, I thought of George Washington.”
“Why?” Carrie asked, as he opened the door for her. They walked into the main room of the lodge and over by the fire.
“I think it’s because after reading so many of his prayers, letters, and speeches, the man is beginning to come alive for me. I was thinking about how he led his army across the Delaware River and won a great victory over the Hessian mercenaries on this same night over two hundred years ago, and it must have been a night like this. Then I thought about the Continental Army, a year later, suffering such pain and losses during the winter at Valley Forge, again in cold snow.
“But what really struck me as I looked out the window was what a leader Washington must have been, to have caused men to follow him into battle on Christmas Eve, when they would want to do almost anything else; or to stay at Valley Forge, suffering, starving, cold, and dying. What a leader.”
Carrie thought for a minute as she warmed her hands by the fire, then said, “William, I know not to compare you to George Washington. That’s of course impossible. But if he were standing here tonight, I know, from wha
t you’ve read to me already about his faith, that he’d credit those successes you’ve just mentioned to God, and he’d encourage you to seek God’s help, as he did”
William put his arms around her and held her close. “I know, Carrie, I know,” he said, looking past her to the snow outside. “That’s what both scares me and exhilarates me. Washington was clearly led by God to do great things—I can’t possibly fill those shoes, but our nation is in as perilous a state as anything Washington faced, though most people won’t acknowledge it. But who will follow me? Who will even listen to me?”
Carrie smiled and looked up at her husband. “You can’t fill those shoes, William, but God can. As you said tonight, trust him.”
He held her close for a long moment before the fire. Finally he whispered, “Merry Christmas, Carrie. What an incredible gift that our Savior was born, as Michael says, in an unspeakable barn, to live and to the an unspeakable death, so we might spend eternity with God.”
“Yes, William,” Carrie said softly, returning his hug, “and how wonderful it is that this year we finally both opened the gift God meant for us to have all this tune.”
“You’re right. What did I do before I accepted his gift? And I would never have known about it except for you. Thank you, Carrie.” William bent down and kissed his wife. At that moment he was overcome by how God had woven together so many strands of his life, particularly Carrie’s patient love, to bring him to this night and to their mutual recognition of what they had to do in just the next few weeks. As they ended their kiss and he again held her tight, feeling the joy of her body next to his and thinking about the wonder of it all, he could only say silently, Thank you, Lord. O thank you dear Father. Please, give me your strength.
AMEDITERRANEANPORT—Christmas was not a holiday where the Bright Star was docked, and in the late morning Sadim and the ship’s captain were standing on the main deck between the number two and number three cargo holds, watching several workers from the shipyard weld the finishing touches on a large platform about four meters above the deck. When completed, the new addition would provide a firm platform separate from and aft of the bridge superstructure by about twenty meters, easily accessible by the ship’s cranes.
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