Bush, who died on Nov. 30 at the age of 94, was honored Wednesday during his state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., where oldest sonGeorge W. Bush‘s daughterJenna Bush Hagergave a reading from Revelation 21:1-4, 23-25.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new Earth, for the first heaven and the first Earth had passed away and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared, as a bride adorned for her husband,”began Bush Hager, 37.
“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘See? The home of God is among mortals,’ ” she continued. “He will dwell with them. They will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
Jenna Bush Hager.ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
After finishing her reading, theTodayshow co-anchor laid a hand on Bush’s casket in a tender finalmoment between granddaughter and grandfather.
Before Bush Hager took the stage, the 41st president’s granddaughtersLauren Bush Laurenand Ashley Walker Bush — the daughters of Neil Bush — delivered the first reading together, speaking from Isaiah 60:1-5, 18-20.
“Arise, shine. For your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you,”Bush Lauren began. “For darkness shall cover the earth and a thick darkness, the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will appear over you.”
Lauren Bush Lauren and Ashley Walker Bush.ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
ANDREW HARNIK/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
RELATED VIDEO: In Memoriam: George H.W. Bush
Mourners gathered to pay their respects to Bush at the cathedral,with services that began at11 a.m. EST on Wednesday.
Jeb, Laura and George W. Bush.ALEX BRANDON/POOL/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
George H.W. Bush’s funeral.ERIK S LESSER/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
All five of the living Bush children — sons Marvin Bush, 62, Neil Bush, 63, Jeb Bush, 65, and George W. Bush, 72, as well as daughter Dorothy Bush Koch, 59 — and their spouses stood outside of the U.S. Capitol Building towatch as their father’s casket was removedon Wednesday morning after lying in state since Monday evening.
Members of the military carried the former president’s flag-draped casket as others lined the steps of the building and saluted. Canons were fired in his honor as a military band played as Bush’s casket was loaded into the presidential hearse.
The motorcade took Bush’s body past the White House, to the Cathedral,where services are still underway.
source: people.com
