February 20, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Tuesday, February 20.
Hope you had a great President's
Day, a federal holiday whose main purpose seems to be the provision of a three-day weekend for federal employees. At any rate, it got me to thinking about the first time I voted for president. 18-year-olds got the vote in 1971 and I turned 18 in 1974.
When he announced he was running for president in 1974, Jimmy Carter's name recognition was at 2%. That’s not 2% who were planning to vote for him, that’s 2% who even knew who he was.
But, two years later, Jimmy Carter won a victory over Gerald Ford, and I voted for him. Four years later he lost to Ronald Reagan (I didn't vote for him that time) and most historians give his one-term presidency pretty low marks. But Carter was only 50 years old when he exited the White House, and his post presidency has garnered much recognition and much praise. He has served countless times as a diplomat in trouble spots around the globe. In 1982 he founded the Carter Center that has aided 80 countries with human rights issues. Carter has been a leader of the charity Habitat for Humanity, and in 2002 he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Today, at 99, Jimmy Carter is the longest-lived US president in history. He's a deacon in his church, Maranatha Baptist in Plains, Georgia, and, well into his nineties, he taught a Sunday School class. In his youth he was inspired by a sermon with this theme - “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
Every president has had some religious affiliation (with the notable exception of Abraham Lincoln), but there is some question, with many of them, about the level of their spiritual fervor. Jimmy Carter has given ample evidence of his faith. He may not have been a great president, but he is most certainly a good man.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
