A True Christian, and Ahead of His Time

The President of the United States is seated behind his desk in the Oval Office, wearing a sweater and asking Americans to turn down their thermostats this winter to conserve energy.

Many people criticize him for this.

Yet decades later, most people recognize that humans have done possibly irreparable harm to our planet by overusing its resources, and even government buildings are retrofitted or constructed with "green" technology.

Who is this man?  Jimmy Carter, America's 39th president.  If only we had heeded his words 45 years ago.

A better ex-president

Although he only served one term as president, Jimmy Carter epitomized the words "public servant."  His distinguished post-presidential career included world travels as a peace emissary, election observer, and human rights advocate.  He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for "decades of untiring effort."  Carter's humanitarian work was conducted under the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, founded with his wife Rosalynn shortly after leaving the White House.  The Carter Center is credited with helping to cure river blindness, trachoma, and Guinea worm disease, which went from millions of cases in Africa and Asia in the 1980s to a mere handful today.

According to historian Douglas Brinkley, Carter is "never going to be ranked as a great president; he's middling as a president.  But as an American figure, he's a giant."  Carter himself quipped in 2005, "I can't deny that I was a better ex-president than I was a president."

Unlike most modern ex-presidents, Carter didn't choose to make money by delivering high-priced speeches or serving on corporate boards.  Instead, he lived out his Christian beliefs by negotiating for peace and supporting initiatives for health and human rights.  In a 1979 speech for which he was widely criticized, Carter said Americans had fallen into "self-indulgence and consumption," only to discover that "piling up material goods cannot fill the emptiness of lives which have no confidence or purpose."  Haven't we, as minimalists, learned that?  Perhaps Carter was simply ahead of his time.

100 years of service

I'm glad Jimmy Carter lived as long as he did, because he was constantly working for a better world.  Wouldn't we all like to have such a legacy, even if it's in a much smaller arena, such as our homes and communities?  Each of us doing our part for health, peace, equality, and kindness could make a gigantic difference.

Rest in peace, President Carter, and thank you.

If you're interested, find more here and here.

By the way, this isn't a political statement, merely my thoughts about the life of a prominent person.  The last time I did this was more than two years ago, here.