We should love one another just as he commanded us.

The present form of the world passes away,

and there remains only the joy of having used this world to establish God’s rule here.

All pomp, all triumphs, all selfish capitalism,

all the false successes of life will pass

with the world’s form.

All of that passes away.

What does not pass away is love.

When one has turned money, property, work in one’s calling into service of others,

then the joy of sharing

and the feeling that all are one’s family

does not pass away.

In the evening of life you will be judged on love.

St. Oscar Romero, The Violence of Love

Jimmy Carter passed away on December 30th, 2024. He was compassionate and dedicated to peace.

I read an article about Jimmy Carter in early 1976 in my dad’s U.S. news and World Report magazine.

Who is this, Jimmy Carter?

I went and bought his book ‘Why not the Best.’  He wrote, ‘Our people are our most precious possession. We cannot afford to waste the talents and abilities given by God.’ Jimmy Carter was a man of faith and a politician. His faith informed his actions, but did not dictate them.

It was my senior year in the following year 1976 he would become president. I headed to New York to enroll in NYU.  Unfortunately, nothing had been done on my file since I was accepted; I had no money.  I took a gap year and worked for Macy’s.

Eventually I enrolled in Seattle University in the fall of 1977. Yes, clear across United States.  In American government class, I asked if peace talks between Israel and Egypt would ever come about and be successful. My professor emphatically said no; there were too many outside pressures and agendas.

Well on September 17th, 1978, the Camp David accords were signed by Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat.  The first accord A Framework for the Conclusion of a Peace Treaty between Egypt and Israel led directly to the 1979 Egypt–Israel peace treaty.  Sadly, the second A framework for peace in the Middle East never progressed.

Begin and Sadat signing the Accords

Jimmy Carter was a peacemaker there and in other parts of the world. He and his wife healed the sick around the world and sheltered the homeless.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa in Cairo, where The Carter Center brought together an unprecedented group of leaders committed to resolving the crisis in the Great Lakes region of Africa. Jimmy Carter and Desmond Tutu

President and Mrs. Carter help measure people’s heights to determine how many Mectizan® treatments should be received to prevent the parasitic disease river blindness

Jimmy and Roslyn Healing the Sick

Jimmy and Rosalyn building homes

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.’  Matthew: 5:16

‘For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger, and you invited me in, I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me. ‘

Jimmy and Rosalyn were truly children of God.   I believe they are counted among the righteous now and for eternity.