Farewells to Jimmy Carter

The tributes to Jimmy Carter, the parade, the memorial at the Capitol, and today the funeral at the National Cathedral--all have fulfilled his stated wishes for his funeral decades ago. He chose every song, every speaker.  

Five former Presidents, Vice Presidents, spouses;  members of Congress and the Supreme Court, and his family--there were hours of unity in admiration of the 39th President, a peanut farmer from Plains, Georgia, a nuclear physicist, a writer, a builder of houses for poor people.  

My daddy knew Jimmy Carter personally, but we all felt like we knew him.  He seemed to be one of us, living in a modest Sears Roebuck house with his wife of 73 years. I remember casting my first vote for him, not because I was politically astute but because he was a good Georgia man like my daddy.  

I've mostly avoided television news since the election, but I tuned in this week to see the memorials.  On Monday, as his casket was lifted into a horse-drawn carriage for the parade, the band played "Just as I am"--a hymn every Baptist knows by heart. We joke that it has 17 verses, but that's only because its six actual verses were sung over and over in revival meetings. 

During the capitol memorial, the music included "Almighty Father, Strong to Save" (the hymn I recall from Kennedy's funeral), patriotic music, "Amazing Grace" and "Georgia on my Mind."  For Jimmy Carter, as one eulogist said today, "Georgia was not only on his mind, but in his heart."  

Today's service was fittingly religious, as Carter was a deeply religious man.  All the eulogies stressed his character and honesty.  "Character, character, character," President Biden said.  Even political opponents considered him a friend.  Andrew Young told a story of the "meanness sheriff" in Georgia.  He mentioned that man to Jimmy Carter once, and Jimmy said, "Yeah, he's a friend of mine."  The diversity of his friendships seems to be a big part of how he is remembered--quite a contrast to the divisiveness of the re-elected Trump. 

Running through it all was a sense of loss--not only for a man of peace and truth-telling in the nation's highest office--but loss of our former believing that our most basic beliefs were shared by all Americans.  

I expected Willie Nelson to sing, but instead it was Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood who sang John Lennon's "Imagine." 

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today... Aha-ah...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace... You...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world... You...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

I love the song, but was surprised that it was the one Carter chose for the last word.  No heaven, no hell?   No religion, no countries, no possessions?  

I've pondered that choice all day.  Carter was a Christian, but he was also tolerant of those who weren't.  Carter was an intellectual and a man of the earth,  He worked for peace in the Middle East and he started the Department of Education.  He was for civil rights and the rights of all people. 

He wasn't like the evangelicals of today who seek to control personal rights and who bow to Donald Trump. In choosing the Lennon anthem, Carter was also a man of his times, a man comfortable with seeming contradictions, and a man who shared the dream that one day the world might live as one.