This morning, I put off everything else that I had planned to do and, instead, watched President Carterβs funeral service broadcast live from the National Cathedral, Washington, DC.
And what a moving experience it turned out to be! Brought me to tears, several times.
When President Carter took office as Presdient, I was on the other side of the world starting out on my career. Since those far away days, I had heard much about his post-presidential work but the enormity of his contributions to this country, and to the world as a whole, struck me only now.
This is not another eulogy. I only want to share how President Carter, in his passing, impacted me today.
President Carter gladly paid the price of being misunderstood without rancor. That is the path I would like to take myself. Not grieving about what might have been or the unfairness of it all, but moving on with forgiveness, and without hurt.
President Carterβs belief in universal brotherhood and the oneness of man is something working with international nonprofits and the hobby of amateur radio has taught me. I will continue to learn and profess the same principles in everything I do.
The Carter Center, set up by President Carter, was instrumental in the eradication of the dreaded guinea worm disease (dracunculiasis) in just seventeen years by the simplest of interventions, saving millions of lives. As someone said in one of the eulogies today, President Carter sent love overseas to less-fortunate areas β not pity or handouts. I had largely considered giving up on working with international nonprofits. But learning today of President Carterβs work has reenergized me to look for opportunities to fight poverty and disease in less fortunate societies around the world.
President Carterβs love for people of other races, nations, cultures, and religious beliefs is truly exceptional. He overcame the racial divide of his state. And on the global arena his outlook was truly international. Quite fitting that he chose the song βImagineβ to be sung at his funeral.
I believe without a shred of doubt that his whole life β not just Sunday mornings β was a Sunday school lesson. His honesty and integrity and his habit of telling the truth is without parallel, especially among politicians. The simplicity of the life he lived after his presidency is worth emulating. He was clearly at peace with himself and his fellowmen.
What a good and beautiful man was President Carter!
If I could be a zillionth of what he was, Iβd have lived a good life, a life of purpose and compassion.
Thank you, President Carter, for your life of service to the nation and to humanity!