Greatest Experience of My Life
My wife an I woke up at 3 a.m. on the 28th of April 2019. I really didn’t know what we were getting into, but I figured this would be a great thing to attend. I don’t go to church much, mainly because I feel, there are too many phony messengers of God. People who take his name in vain and don’t actually practice what they preach. Its about an hour or so drive to Plains, GA from Columbus, GA. (I’m stationed at Fort Benning, GA. When we got in line, we had a pleasant conversation with other attendees until we were escorted into the overflow room. We were told that we could take pictures of President Carter when he and his wife enter the overflow room, and when he did, I did not. I didn’t think it would be right to do so. He’s a person, not a circus act. I thought I knew what kind of question to ask him, but my mind drew a blank. I loved how interactive he was with everyone and how genuine he seemed to everyone. One of my favorite things he was asked though, “if there was any hope for this country”? He said yes. “Our country has endured so much worse, I believe there is always hope for this country. I have faith in the will and determination of the American people”. Loved it. I loved it. That’s what we need to hear more of. I had chills going down my spine by those words.
When he went into the sanctuary, and he sat down in the chair and said “I cant see everybody, but lets do something about that”. He then activated a button that raised him above the pedestal and he has the happiest look on his face. My wife leans over and said “He is an absolute delight”. Which I couldn’t agree more.
I can say without a doubt, this was an absolute honor and privilege to sit in on President Carter’s Sunday School services. I loved listen to his challenge to the rest of the congregation to do one good thing for someone in need. He talked about how so we have spent over 200 years of our existence as a country in some sort of conflict. Imagine if we invested that much time into doing good for one another. Now, being a veteran of two different countries, (Iraq, Afghanistan) I can tell you the impact that war has on the human psyche. How much it changes all of us. We do pour a lot of money into the military in order to fight and win our nations wars.
I do wish we invested as much into the helping of others as we do in the fight to win our nations wars. To me, President Carter is the gold standard for what it means to be a Christian. Even though I no longer identify with any religion anymore, I truly think these words of wisdom from his church services should be heard far and wide. Talk about a once in a lifetime experience. There will never be another Jimmy Carter, but there can be plenty of people who take his challenges and treat everyone the same as he stated in his service, I will be forever thankful to President Carter for his contributions to this country, and beyond. Thank you all, and I am proud to have shared in this experience.
– Alex Kirsch