[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Pages 6336-6338]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            LLOYD J. OGILVIE

  Mr. ENZI. Mr. President, ever since I first arrived in the Senate, I 
have always looked forward to starting each new day with a prayer. 
Whether that prayer came from one of his excellent books, like One 
Quiet Moment, or on the Senate Floor, we have all received a great deal 
of inspiration and encouragement from our Chaplain, Dr. Ogilvie. Each 
day, as we prayed together on the floor or in our offices, Dr. Ogilvie 
has helped us to focus on the tasks of the day and the importance of 
working together as one family to solve the problems we face as a 
nation. His words have also reminded us of the beliefs of our Founding 
Fathers and their inherent trust in God for all things.
  Looking back over the years he has served in the Senate, Dr. Ogilvie 
has helped us through a long list of trials, tribulations and 
difficulties. In particular, he prayed with us each morning as we began 
to recover from the pain of the attacks of September 11. As the 
Chaplain of all the Senate, he took

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the pain and isolation that some of us felt from those days, and 
through prayer and understanding, he brought us together as one, the 
Senate family, and taught us how to console each other and how to help 
each family member through the pain of that day.
  Now, after all he has done for us, Dr. Ogilvie will be leaving to 
help his own special family and his wife, Mary Jane. Their's is a 
remarkable story, and someday it may be written, about teamwork, love 
and happiness. Now she needs his time, his caring and his attention and 
so he will be working with her, just as she has worked with him as part 
of his team for all of the years of their marriage, to bring her back 
to health.
  As he prepares to return to California to be with his wife, a lot of 
us have taken a few moments to think about the difference he has made 
in our lives, in our staff's lives, and in the every day routines of 
the Senate.
  I have always believed that there was no better gauge of how well you 
did your job than to measure your results against what you said you 
wanted to do on your first day in the office. For Dr. Ogilvie, that 
meant pursuing a role as ``intercessor, trusted prayer partner and 
faithful counselor to members of the Senate family as they seek to know 
God and discover His will in the monumental responsibilities entrusted 
to them.''
  I don't think there is any doubt that he has fulfilled his own charge 
to the letter. He has been a counselor, comforter and a source of 
strength for us all, no matter our status or rank in the Senate or in 
each office because those things don't matter to the other members of a 
family when someone is in need.
  One of my favorite moments from the New Testament has to do with the 
story of the apostles who were in a boat with Jesus Christ when a 
terrible storm came up all around them. As Christ slept peacefully, the 
apostles were in the throes of a terrible panic about their situation 
and what was to become of them. As Christ was awakened and sensed their 
fear, He stretched out His arms and quelled the seas and the winds and 
everything around them became peaceful and calm once again.
  Our lives are often like that. We see the storm clouds and the very 
real rough winds and seas that seem like they will batter and demolish 
the little boat of our life. The thought can often leave us feeling 
very afraid of what is to become of us. In those moments, Dr. Ogilvie 
was a constant reminder that the strength of God was never far off, and 
we were never far from Him. All we needed to do was to imitate Christ, 
stretch out our arms to God and listen for the peace and calm that is 
always within us. That is God's gift to the troubled and confused and 
it always lies within us, in the depths of our hearts and souls. 
Another of God's gifts was surely Dr. Ogilvie, who has a wonderful 
talent of helping us to find that small, still place in ourselves where 
we can find the peace, strength and comfort of God for those times when 
life seems unfair and our boat feels adrift and lost in the turbulent 
seas of the world.
  After coming to know Dr. Ogilvie over the years, and seeing him in 
prayer with my staff, and so many others, I have no doubt that a book 
about our Chaplain and the many ways he has made a difference in our 
lives would be a very thick one. Every office, and every staff has at 
least a handful of stories about Dr. Ogilvie and the difference he made 
in their day or their lives just by being available and joining in 
prayer--or by being there to listen. To those who are fortunate enough 
to know him, he has been more than a Chaplain to us--he has been a 
trusted friend who could always be relied on for a good word of advice 
or to help with an idea or suggest a different approach to a problem.
  We all know that all prayers are answered, it is just a difficult 
thing when the answer we pray for isn't the one we receive. Through the 
years, Dr. Ogilvie helped so many of our staff members through the 
storms of their own lives and he did so with great humility, kindness 
and a gentleness of spirit.
  As I thought about the problems faced by my staff, I remembered the 
mother of one of my staff members who has a problem with pain. When he 
found out about it, Dr. Ogilvie called her and personally expressed his 
support for her and his intention to keep her in his prayers. It meant 
a lot to his mother and to my staff member to know just how much he 
could count on and rely on the Chaplain for help.
  Another member of my staff had just received the devastating news 
that both of her parents were ill and facing a crisis in their health. 
Again, Dr. Ogilvie offered his prayers, his support and his spiritual 
strength for the battle. When a miracle came to pass and both parents 
recovered, he was there to express the joy and happiness that he found 
in another's victory. As the old adage says so well, each person's joy 
was his own.
  Another staff member's wife was battling cancer. Dr. Ogilvie was 
there again to support and encourage as he prayed with them and helped 
them to face and battle the illness together.
  Those are just a few examples of a long list that I could put 
together of the times when Dr. Ogilvie joined us in prayer, silently 
and in the background, helping to strengthen the ties between us and 
the Lord--because, as he said in his mission statement--it was more 
than his job, it was his charge from God.
  For my own office, we will never forget all that Dr. Ogilvie shared 
with us when one of our staffers, a young man named Ben, faced the 
ultimate crisis of his life.
  Ben was a remarkable young man, someone you took a liking to as soon 
as you met him. He had a remarkable spirit that comes from being young 
and being convinced you can do pretty much anything you want to. I 
don't think I've ever seen anyone at so young an age that was so full 
of promise and potential--mixed in with a lot of personality and 
spirit. We all knew when we met Ben that he was one colt that would be 
impossible to break--but sometimes the spirited ones make the whole 
herd run better. Such was the case with Ben.
  He had come to us in the middle of a battle with cancer and every day 
we could sense his joy at the gift he was given of another day, another 
moment of life. Every day he seemed to be getting better and stronger 
until one terrible day when he seemed to lose a lot of ground and 
strength--all of a sudden. That was the day it started to seem clear 
that he might lose his battle with cancer.
  Each day, as Ben battled for his life, we battled to be heard as we 
prayed in earnest for his recovery. Although each passing day seemed to 
put that elusive goal further from us, we joined together with Dr. 
Ogilvie in our prayers for a miracle. Sadly, we didn't get what we 
prayed for. I still remember the day we got the news we had come to 
dread but expect. Ben had passed away.
  Once again, Dr. Ogilvie was with us, to comfort those of us who had 
lost a good friend, a hard working colleague, and an all around nice 
guy who had made a difference in all our lives. As we remembered our 
past years together many of us wondered why God had taken his future 
from him and from us at such a young and tender age.
  Together with Dr. Ogilvie we prayed for answers to these and to all 
the questions that haunt those who have lost a loved one.
  Those answers will come from God at His own speed and at His own 
time. For then, and for now, it was enough to have our good friend, Dr. 
Ogilvie, lead us in prayer and provide the words that resonated in our 
hearts as he helped us find the strength and courage to support each 
other as we continued to reach out to his family as they mourned the 
loss of a special son.
  Dr. Ogilvie never said this in his prayers or lectures, but it was so 
clear from the way he lives his life that he knows it's not about him--
it's about his service and it's about our God. He is God's servant and 
he continues to serve Him with great strength and an abundance of good 
cheer and good will. In many ways he's like a beacon of light that 
helps to light the way we must walk to draw closer to God and His holy 
heaven.
  One of the greatest preachers of our time was Billy Graham. When 
asked

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what made for a good preacher he said, ``The test of a preacher is that 
his congregation goes away saying, not, ``What a lovely sermon!'' but 
``I will do something.''
  If that is the test, Dr. Ogilvie is one of the best. In fact, I don't 
think there is a single one of us who met with Dr. Ogilvie to discuss a 
problem who didn't leave feeling absolutely certain that he or she knew 
what to do and when to do it.
  That was one of Dr. Ogilvie's great gifts. He could listen and 
provide strength and support while he helped us all to find the answer 
that was right for us--from the silence and peace that lies within our 
hearts.
  God bless you, Dr. Ogilvie, for you certainly were a blessing to each 
of us while you were here.
  I have always believed that God puts us where He needs us, where He 
wants us to be found. I have no doubt that He is doing that with you 
right now. Wherever you go from now on, and whatever path He chooses to 
have you follow, I have no doubt you will continue to do a good job and 
represent well He who has sent you. As it teaches us in the Bible, 
``you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over 
many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord.'' God bless you, Dr. 
Ogilvie, and may you continue to find the joy of your Lord wherever you 
go and in everyone you meet.

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