The Gathering for a Life Well-Lived

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

A great human being was honored, eulogized, and laid to rest yesterday during a national day of mourning.   Jimmy Carter, a man who dedicated his entire life to the service of others, has set aside his hammer and nails and gone on to reside in the peace and comfort that are rightfully his after a century of good works aimed at making all of our lives better.

The State Funeral was held in the morning Washington's National Cathedral.

President Carter's eulogy was given by current President Joe Biden, a man with whom he had been friends since the 1970's, and eulogies from two other close friends who predeceased him were also read at the service:  one by Carter's Vice President, Walter Mondale, which was read by Mondale's son, and the other by Carter's predecessor in the White House, Gerald Ford, which was read by Ford's son, Steven.   Carter had defeated Ford, the incumbent, for the presidency in 1976, but after each had left office they went on to become close friends.  Ford, in the eulogy that he left behind, compared the friendship that he had with Carter, his one-time rival, to the one between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson which developed during their post-presidencies.  Adams and Jefferson had been fierce rivals earlier on.  

In addition to President and Mrs. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, were in attendance and sitting on the front pew next to the Bidens.   All four living former Presidents, one of whom is now President-Elect, and three of their First Ladies were in attendance, on the second pew, and sitting in the pew behind the former Presidents were three of their Vice Presidents and one Second Lady.

The only top echelon surviving members of the Executive Branch who were not in attendance were former First Lady Michelle Obama who had other commitments, and former Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynn.

The Cathedral was packed, and the people who gathered there represented a significant portion of our nation's and our world's power and history.  It was a very fitting tribute for a man who did so much for so many - for so long.

Rest well, President Carter.  As Steven Ford told your children yesterday, "When God made your dad, He did good work."

Bless you for a life well-lived.