My Pilgrimage To Plains

This summer my daughter and I embarked on a Georgia vacation. We tamed every roller coaster at Six Flags except the one that was closed for cleaning. We visited the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic site and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum and Library. On Sunday morning, we attended a Sunday School class in Plains, Georgia taught by President Carter.

Mr. Carter's lesson entitled "Doers of the Word" reinforced my astronomical opinion of him. The lesson about practicing what you preach was relatively forgettable, which ironically was one of the reasons it was such a positive reflection. I simply could not imagine any president of a large company let alone one of the other former Presidents of the United States standing in that small church and being so forthright, humble and accessible. Mr. Carter conversed with many of us before the lesson, and stayed long enough after church so that everyone who desired could get a photo with him.

We live in an era when our business and governmental leaders are under intense pressure to please their masters, be they voters or shareholders. Many of these managers such as the Enron and Arthur Andersen executives have been disciplined and publicly disgraced for doing so dishonestly. Jimmy Carter has often been considered an unsuccessful President and occasionally a treasonous humanitarian. I'm not aware of anyone who seriously questions his honesty though.

President Carter's integrity and humility then are what qualify him for greatness. If he is studied in the future as a great President, as I think he should be, the student will consider his approach to the office of President more intensely than his accomplishments. There are Presidents such as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt who will be remembered for their unique achievements on behalf of our nation. Which of them besides Jimmy Carter will be remembered for the willingness to lose rather than doing things they believed to be wrong? That stubborn humility and integrity was what Tori and I sought upon our visit to Plains. It was reassuring to find it alive and well there.