Remembering President Jimmy Carter

I wasn't old enough to vote when Jimmy Carter was president. I was, however, old enough to hear some of the rumblings about the president. Most of them unfavorable.

In fact, history, or at least the folks who qualify to have some say in the part of history that officially measures the value of presidents, continues to put Carter in the bottom ten of all presidents.

I HAVE been old enough to observe President Carter since his presidency ended, however. And this morning, not 24 hours after the death of President Carter, not 24 hours since God spoke the words upon this man's 100 year life, "well done my good and faithful servant", I am left to wonder, do the rumblings of pundits and the measures of historians really matter much in the end?

I HAVE been old enough to observe President Carter since his presidency ended, however. He has not taken the path of any other post-presidency president that I can recall. Where many leave their presidencies and pursue other political avenues, speaking tours, book deals, business ventures, or maybe lives out of the public eye all together, President Carter went to work building houses for those in need (among many other humanitarian efforts around the world).

President Carter and his wife Rosalyn first volunteered for Habitat for Humanity near their home in Plains, Georgia in 1984. And each year since then, up until 2019, when Carter was well into his 90s, the Carters showed up to work alongside homeowners in communities in the United States and around the world to build and improve houses for the needy.

They didn't show up for photo opportunities. They showed up, often for weeks at at time, with hammers and saws and hard hats.

They showed up to serve, not to be seen.

Carter said about his work with Habitat, “I think every human being has within himself or herself a desire to reach out to others and to share some of our blessings with those who are in need. What’s opened up that avenue for me and my wife and hundreds and thousands of others is Habitat for Humanity. It makes it easy for us to reach out and work side by side with the homeowner who’s never had a decent house, perhaps. I haven’t been on a Habitat project that I wasn’t thrilled and inspired and wept.”

It has been said that in spite of being largely regarded historically as a political failure, Carter had few rivals when it came to his accomplishments as a former president.

I'm not sure he has ANY rivals in that category.

Carter said in a 1991 documentary when asked to talk about his presidency, "The biggest failure we had was a political failure. I never was able to convince the American people that I was a forceful and strong leader."

I find it ironic, really, that politics seems to demand forceful and strong, and yet much of the world is deeply longing for someone to come build them a house.

I wonder, how many who have called Carter's presidency a failure have spent time - any time, not decades of their life - working alongside strangers helping them build their home?

I'm not sure Carter was built for forceful and strong. He was leading church bible studies as a teenager; he refused to ride in the flashy limousine and instead walked at his 1977 inauguration. He had a humility about him that was never going to lend itself to forceful and strong.

But then again, forceful and strong can have a lot of different meanings. I spent many years building houses. It takes a lot of strength and force to haul around two by fours, to hoist beams, to drive a nail into a foundation block.

I wonder this morning. Actually, correct that, I don't wonder at all. I know.

President Jimmy Carter has had conversations by now with God. And I know God has commended President Carter on his century of life well-lived. I know God has held up President Carter's strength and force for those who needed him most as a most humble reflection of a loving God.

I don't believe there has been a single conversation about Democrat or Republican.

I believe maybe God said to President Carter:

“I think every human being has within himself or herself a desire to reach out to others and to share some of our blessings with those who are in need."

I created you with that desire, God might have said to him. Thank you for being one of those who pursued it. Thank you, good and faithful servant.

In a time of what feels like significant political turmoil for many, maybe we take the lead of a strong and forceful leader, maybe we all go help someone build a house next year they'll never have if we don't show up to help them build it.

We all have within us a desire to reach out to others.

Maybe we spend 2025 doing just that.