What Was He Thinking? There's No Way to Defend it.

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For as long as I can remember, I have always been drawn to American history and biographies as my favorite genres of books. My parents always made sure my sister Carolyn and I had plenty of access to our local libraries, and I do not remember a time where we visited a bookstore and did not leave with two to three books for each of us. (Obviously, I didn’t grow up in an itinerant Methodist minister’s home given the number of books we had!) Some of my favorite and most fascinating material I’ve read concerns the man who was president when I was born, Gerald Ford.

In reading about President Ford and hearing all about him from those who served in his administration, from both contemporary and historical accounts, he was a most fascinating man. To look at his back story and discover so much about him from childhood through his time in college to the war years and then into life as a congressman then in the executive branch, no matter what you might have thought of his policies or his presidency, his was a most extraordinary journey.

One thing anyone who does even a little research into our 38th president will discover that he was a man of faith, and from childhood recited his favorite passage of scripture every day. 

Hear these words translated in the King James Version, the one from which President Ford memorized Proverbs three, verses five and six:

Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

One of my most favorite stories about President Ford came from a man who was absolutely vicious towards President Ford, a man who tore into him pretty much any time he could during the time and after President Ford pardoned President Nixon for any and all offenses he may have committed while in office. The man of whom I speak, the man who just excoriated President Ford for this action? Massachusetts senator Edward M. Kennedy.

And, yet, in 2001, Senator Kennedy presented him with the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award at President Kennedy’s Presidential Library. In his remarks, Senator Kennedy noted and I quote:

“I was one of those who spoke out against his action then. But time has a way of clarifying past events, and now we see that President Ford was right. His courage and dedication to our country made it possible for us to begin the process of healing and put the tragedy of Watergate behind us. He eminently deserves this award, and we are proud of his achievement.”

Reflecting on what all has gone on in our state, country, and world, over the last few months, my mind was drawn to President Ford’s favorite passage, the sage words from Proverbs. I was drawn to these words because we are in a time where there is so much instantaneous outrage at decisions being made by people at all levels and sides of our society, when, in fact, we won’t know for a long time (if ever) what was the right call by certain people in certain situations.

President Ford, it could be said with quite a bit of validity, cost himself a chance to be elected in his own right because of the decision to pardon President Ford.

However, knowing that he meditated daily on these words from Proverbs three about trusting in the Lord with all your heart, and knowing to not lean on our own understanding, it should not be surprising that he would make a decision that might be pilloried by many because it did not make sense at the time.

In what ways are we leaning on our own understanding to the detriment of ourselves and those in our lives? Are we truly trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts? Are we acknowledging God in all our ways? Are we allowing room for God to lead our paths?

Are we going to allow ourselves to be hijacked by the emotions of the moment, or are we going to be patient in trusting that God will lead us through this time - even if God’s leading isn’t what necessarily makes sense to us right now?

If you had asked Senator Kennedy in 1974 about presenting President Ford with a Profile in Courage award, you probably would have gotten a reaction that I could not communicate in a pastoral devotion. And, yet, Gerald Ford chose to place his trust in God, not in the moment. President Ford chose to lean not on his own understanding. 

We are in a time of high and raw emotion. Let us not get so caught up in the moment that we forget to lean not on our own understanding, but trust in the Lord - even if that means we have to make or have to live under guidelines and rules that we do not like or that do not make much sense to us.