Day 72

Last night I was watching an episode of a television show called "The West Wing."  I must've talked about this show before because I absolutely love it!  It is a fictional tv show about the daily happenings in the West Wing of the White House.  Anyway, in this particular episode the President's youngest daughter is kidnapped, which causes him to invoke the 25th Amendment.  The third section of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment says that whenever the President sends a written declaration to Congress declaring that he is unable to perform the duties of his office, the Vice President will take over until the President sends a second letter saying that he is ready to resume.  Well, unfortunately they didn't have a vice president because he had resigned just before due to a scandal he was involved in.  Therefore, the Speaker of the House took over the office of the President of the United States.  When the Speaker was being sworn in, one of the phrases that stuck with me was, "That I shall thankfully execute the office of President of the United States."  I have no idea exactly what that means, but the word thankfully caught me by surprise.  Why would the Founding Fathers have wanted to use thankfully instead of faithfully or diligently?  What is so special about the word "thankfully?"

According to the 1828 dictionary, thankfully is an adverb defined as, "with a grateful sense of favor or kindness received."  Now, I may be completely wrong, but I think that thankfully could be replaced with humbly and gratefully.  The President is our (the citizens of the United States) servant.  We put him into office so that he could serve our interests to the best of his ability.  When he accepts the call to become the President of the United States he should do it with gratitude and humility for the great honor which has been bestowed upon him.  He is told to be a little like Christ when Christ said that whoever is greatest among you, let him be your servant, and also like Christ when he washed the feet of his disciples.  The President of the United States is one of the most powerful men in the world, yet he should fulfill his duty thankfully.

There is a lot that I got out of this one phrase.  I may not be right at all, but learning all of this makes me want to become more humble.  If the President of the United States has sworn to execute his office (one of the most powerful and difficult jobs in the world) "with a grateful sense of favor or kindness received," then I can execute my roles with humility and gratitude as well.