Random thoughts of a feverish man:
1. 2024; what a fucked up year. The only consolation is that 2025 is going to be much worse.
2. Thank you, Lord Jesus, for taking Jimmy Carter now instead of in a few weeks – when someone who should be getting his teeth knocked out in prison would be hosting Jimmy’s memorial service, instead. You should have taken him just after The First Lady (and she was all that, and more) passed, but as we all know you work in mysterious ways.
3. I think Carter’s death is opening up a little bit of dialogue as to how “bad” he was as a President. That narrative was bullshit then, and furthered by people who benefited by that narrative: Politicians and military corporatists who were the opposite of Jimmy Carter. Why did it work? Same reason Reagan got elected: because too many Americans are greedy, lazy and willfully (and conveniently) ignorant.
4. I also think that the President has always been maligned by envy. When you’re a greedy asshole, you despise do-gooders; their existence reminds you that you’re a greedy asshole. You want them put on a shelf somewhere, only to be taken out on Sunday mornings. Jimmy Carter’s Christian beliefs did not jibe with how America works (or, rather, doesn’t work). He advocated for peace during a time when America was often looking for war – in order to fill corporate coffers. He advocated for rational thought and merciful solutions when America was imprisoning more people than anywhere else in the world. He advocated for humanity when America was increasingly taking from the poor to give to the rich. That sort of man isn’t going to endear himself to those in America who concoct the narratives.
5. A lot of people wish that they could be more like Jimmy Carter – I do – but we just can’t pull the trigger on that sort of dedication, that kind of sacrifice, that type of lifestyle. That way of thinking. Which says a lot about the human race, and a lot about Jimmy Carter. Which ties into number
6. Jimmy and Rosalynn were married for 77 years. Seventy-seven. Damn. Talk about envy. So many Americans don’t know that sort of love, that sort of commitment. The pride of Plains, Georgia were blessed.
Proverbs 28:20 – “A faithful man will abound with blessings, but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.”
Proverbs 3:3-4 – “Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good success in the sight of God and man”.
