January 9, 2025 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, January 9.
At the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. this morning, there will be a memorial service for Jimmy Carter. In his honor I’m reprinting the devotion that originally ran on October 1, 2024.
Today, former president Jimmy Carter will accomplish something that no other chief executive has accomplished in U.S. history. He will turn 100 years old. In the fall of 1976, there was another historic occurrence, as David Mathis voted for the first time, and cast his ballot for the peanut farmer from Georgia. Well, it was an historic moment for me!
Jimmy Carter was just 56 when he left office. In comparison, Joe Biden will be 82 when he exits the White House. Carter has had almost as many years after his presidency as he did before it. And he has certainly made the most of his “second act”. During the last 40 years, he started the Carter Foundation, which protects human rights around the world. He has led the fight to eradicate infectious diseases in third world countries. He has traveled the world as a conflict negotiator and election monitor. He has been a leader of the non-profit housing organization Habitat for Humanity. And, in 2002, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Historians usually rate Jimmy Carter’s presidency as below average, but, in my opinion, he has been the greatest ex-president in our nation’s history.
Carter did something else after he left Washington. Each week he taught a Sunday School class in his hometown of Plains, Georgia (population - 600 souls). And no matter what the lesson had been about, at the close, he would always encourage the crowd to “do something good for someone this week”. A great message for us today, and one that Jimmy Carter truly took to heart.
Rest in peace, Mr. President. And thank you.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
