It has been seven years since John McCain died. I always admired the Senator for his courage
and heroism as a Vietnam POW. I admired
him even more for his character as an elected official and candidate for
President.
He provided his own assessments regarding himself and his
life: his 1991 memoirs, Faith of My
Fathers and the book written just before his death, The Restless Wave. Both
books are well written, engaging, inspiring and, in some cases, prophetic.
The first book opens with words from the hymn, “Faith of Our
Fathers.” In the second he states, “What God and good luck provide we must accept
with gratitude. Our time is our time. It’s up to us to make the most of it,
make it amount to more than the sum of our days.”
What stands out in my mind regarding John McCain is his
decency, his respect for other people, even his adversaries. On Memorial Day 1993, he returned to Hanoi,
the place where he had been imprisoned and tortured. Over the next two years he gave leadership
that resulted in normalized relations with Vietnam. Vietnam’s foreign minister
said, “It was he who took the lead to significantly heal the wounds of war.”
I remember the moment during his 2008 campaign for the
Presidency. He was speaking in a high
school near Minneapolis, taking questions from the audience. A woman was handed the microphone. She said, “I do not believe in, I can’t trust
Obama. I’ve read about him and he’s not
a … he’s an Arab.”
McCain quickly reached for the mike and corrected her. “No
ma’am.” He said, “He’s a decent family man and citizen that I just happen to
have disagreements with.” When others
tried to label Obama as a terrorist and a Muslim, McCain stated, “He is a
decent person and a person you don’t have to be scared of as President of the
United States.”
At Senator McCain’s request, Presidents Obama and George W.
Bush were scheduled to speak at his funeral.
Even more than his legendary heroism as a POW for 5 years in
Vietnam, McCain’s most important legacy might well be his commitment to
decency, respect, honesty, integrity and humility, character qualities that can
guide us to a better future.
These are the Christian qualities demonstrated by Jesus
toward the poor, the outcast and His own accusers, including the very soldiers
who crucified Him. They are the
qualities exhorted by the Apostle Paul who challenged believers “to be ready
for every good deed; to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every
consideration for all men.” (Titus 3:1-2).
