The speaker in this morning's first session was former President Jimmy Carter. "Jimmy Carter served as the 39th president of the United States, from 1977 to 1981 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. He is founder of The Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia, which works to promote peace, health, and human rights across the globe. A Sunday school teacher at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia, Carter and his wife, Rosalynn, are also well known as volunteers for Habitat for Humanity. Among his many books is Our Endangered Values: America’s Moral Crisis, which addresses the theme of morality in public leadership." (bio from Willow Creek)
President Carter spoke with humor and humility about his presidency and about life. He characterized his leadership style as that of an engineer...a strategist. He told the remarkable story about how his father taught him about business by giving him opportunities when he was very young...picking and selling peanuts beginning at age five...investing his earnings in cotton at age nine...taking his profits from that to buy five rental homes at age twelve. His proudest moment as President was helping negotiate the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. His most horrific moment was the Iran hostage crisis. He spoke of the deep sorrow of being defeated in the 1980 election. He also spoke of the adventure of the past 27 years...of how full his life has been.
He reflected upon the irony of having grown up in a community that was almost entirely black...of playing with those children...of sharing a bed...eating at the same table...and yet, having to go to different schools and sit separately on trains and buses and in the theater. This inconsistency...this injustice...provoked him to address integration as one of his highest priorities as Governor of Georgia.
He spoke about the Carter Center and its mission of peace and of humanity. He has a great heart for those who live in poverty...for those who have been deprived of the most basic human rights. One of the things that he loves about Habitat for Humanity, he said, is the fact that it brings people who are very different together...people of different socioeconomic classes, of different race or nationality. It breaks down barriers.
President Carter is a man of integrity and wisdom. He has a heart of compassion and is giving his life to helping others. He spoke with great gentleness as well as strength of conviction. He is a man of reconciliation...a man of peace.
"Seek peace and pursue it." Psalm 34:14
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