Robert Meuller, a Wedding, Time in Bermuda

I have spent a lifetime of people and events that are significant in our country’s history. Robert Meuller died yesterday at the age of 81. He came into office right after the terrorist attack on 9/11. He changed the FBI from an agency concerned with crime within our nation to someone who was focused on terrorism.

He is perhaps best known for his thorough investigation of Donald Trumps relationship with Putin and Russia. When Trump learned that he was dead, he said, “Good I am glad he’s dead.” President Obama, on the other hand, reflected that Robert Mueller was one of the most important Directors of the FBI who followed bedrock values consistent with the laws of our nation. He transformed the FBI to meet the moment of the attack on 9/11.

Mueller’s report on Trump did not prosecute Trump for there was a law that stated that a President could not be charged. He attended Princeton and NYU and received numerous awards for his valor as a leader in the Vietnam War. His bravery in battle is unmatched. He once carried an injured fellow soldier who was shot a distance to save his life. He spent most of his life as a Prosecutor. He was a man of serious purpose when I met him during a joyous occasion, a wedding that I was blessing at the Elbow Beach Club in Bermuda. It did not take long to realize that I was in the presence of a true patriot.

When Vicki and I arrived at the cottage where we were staying, there were black SUV(s) and men wearing black sunglasses surrounding the area. They were from central casting for FBI agents. I learned that Robert Mueller was staying in the cottage right next to us. I was probably safer then than any other time in my life. He was related to the groom who was marrying a former student.

That evening, I spent some time with Mueller at a reception talking with him. I didn’t bring up the turmoil that was surrounding him. You can tell a lot about a person in the first fifteen seconds that you meet them. It was clear that he was a man who was used to dealing with difficult situations.

The wedding was joyful. It was on a beach with rain predicted. We finished the blessing of a marriage service just before the rains came. It is a moment that I could go to in the future when I had too many challenges at the same time.

Bermuda was a familiar place to me as I was there for two months, one each summer for two years. I was the Rector of the largest parish on the island at St. Paget. Bermuda had the best race relations of anywhere as black and white people who first came to the island came with the same given skills. Macolm Gosling, founder of Gosling liquor stores, was my lay assistant. He had been saved by Billy Graham at a rally in New York.

There were customs that I had to learn quickly. When a black maitre’d who was at one of the restaurants in Paget died, all the businesses closed and came to his burial service. There is a graveyard surrounding the parish. The people come out to be part of the committal service. Hundreds of people covered the graveyard. At that time only doctors, politicians, and clergy could have cars so my first action when we arrived was to take a driver’s test.

There is something called birthright Bermudians. They had more rights than those who were not born on the island. My daughter, Joanna, and Thaddeus were with us. It was a happy time.

But back to Robert Mueller and why he is significant that relates to Bermuda and a joyous occasion.

Robert Meuller was passionate about the law. It took a long time for him to complete the high-profile cases like Trump, John Gotti, the New York crime boss and the leader, Manuel Noriega, the Paramedian Dictator. His joy came in doing the right thing in putting criminals to justice. It is ironic that he had all the evidence to prosecute Trump, but he couldn’t defy the law forbidding a president to be charged. When Bill Barr attempted to sugar coat Mueller’s report, Meuller replied that his report against Trump that Barr had not come to the obvious damaging conclusions of his report.

Bermuda has some of the most interesting laws to protect the native-born citizens of Bermuda. They must act on laws when necessary to consult the British government. Even though the family of the bride worked through channels of both Bermuda and Britian for me to get permission for one day to bless this marriage of my former student, it took almost a year for me to get permission to conduct a wedding service. Late one Spring Day before the wedding was to occur during the summer, I received a large envelope written across the top were the words: “On His Majesty’s Service”. Vicki kidded me that she didn’t know I was OO7.

When I looked at the contents of the envelope, it was a formal document which looked like a graduation diploma with the words: “You are cleared to bless one marriage on one day while serving in Bermuda.” It didn’t matter that I was a known entity on the island. Bermuda takes the rights of their citizens very seriously. They protect them from foreign people usurping the rights of birthright Bermudans. The Rector of the Parish had less rights than his children who were born on the island.

We had a chance encounter with Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones and their children when they placed their beach blanket near to ours. They had a home there but still did not have the same rights as those born there. That’s the law!