Doing Good for the Next Four Years
RIP President Jimmy Carter
I’ve only ever spoken to one former President in person, and here’s what he said to me:
“You gonna read all those books?”
I was standing in front of former President Jimmy Carter at a now-defunct chain bookstore in my hometown. He was on a signing tour for his latest work, but he was a prolific writer who wrote 32 books, and I had a big stack in my arms. I was buying them for Christmas gifts for pretty much everyone I knew. I stood in line a long time, not because I wanted all those books. I wanted to be able to speak to this honorable man, if only for a few seconds, to be in the presence of such a great humanitarian.
When he was inaugurated in 1977, he placed his hand on two Bibles, stacked one upon the other. The first was a family Bible, a gift from his mother, and the second was the Bible used by George Washington at his own swearing-in ceremony. Both were held by his beloved wife Rosalyn, and each was opened to this verse from Micah:
He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justice, to love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
After the most recent Presidential election, I found myself bitter about the upcoming four years and the harm that will likely come to our country, our environment, to people on the margin, to people I care about. I didn’t want to talk to anyone that I even suspected might have voted for him. I assumed the worst, and if I didn’t know your political views, I assumed the worst about you. And I wanted nothing to do with you.
But then Jimmy Carter, age 100, died. In the days following his death, we heard news stories of all the great things he did throughout his life, and I began to think about how he lived and how I want to live.
I identify as a Christian, but I am reluctant to reveal that to many people. I don’t want to be even remotely associated with fundamentalist or evangelical Christians. I don’t think that my Higher Power cares if you believe in her/him/they/it or not. I think that what this creator cares about is that I live the best life I can, that I help others, and that I try to enjoy my own life. I think my HP wants me to Do Good.
My former neighbor and friend is a member of the women’s fraternity, Delta Gamma, whose motto is exactly that: Do Good. Any positive view I have of any sorority or fraternity is due to this woman’s life, which I know she’d say has been directed by a life rule of doing good, as embodied in her organization’s guiding principle. And she and her fraternity and Jimmy Carter and his life have re-ignited me. I haven’t put aside the disappointment and anger about the incoming administration, but I will do my best to not let it control how I behave and feel.
So my next four years are going to be focused on trying to be a Jimmy Carter Christian and on trying to Do Good.
The Venn diagram of Jimmy Carter’s life and my friend’s rule of life embodies how I want to try to live.
Be kind to others, unless they have proven to me that they are not people I should be kind to.
Let people have their opinions. I don’t have to agree. If they have extremely horrific philosophies, though, I may choose not to spend time around them. And I do not have to seek out hatred, intolerance, or anti-science tirades. I can scroll past social media posts, where I have no ability to effect change in a person’s ideas. (I’m grateful for the recovery slogan, “Take what you like and leave the rest.”) This is a hard one for me, but I’m actively working on it.
Defend the rights of the marginalized, especially, but not limited to, the poor, LGBTQ+ folx, and Black and indigenous people, as I am able. I will speak up when I hear a person in my presence speak overt misogyny, racism, homophobia or fundamentalism.
I still haven’t read the book shown above, Sources of Strength, even though I promised President Carter that I would. I have my autographed copy, and this year I’ll read it. I’ll think of him and the kind of life he lived. I’m going to need all the strength I can muster.