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Sat, Aug

Jimmy Carter: "Blood is Life Until Given; Then It's Love"

VOICES

TRIBUTE - Jimmy Carter, an American politician and humanitarian, served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981.  At age 99, he is the oldest living former U.S. president. 

Carter was the 76th governor of Georgia from 1971 to 1975, and a Georgia state senator from 1963 to 1967. 

He created his greatest legacy after leaving The White House through his humanitarian efforts to help others. 

After seeing a picture in a magazine of Jimmy and his wife Rosalynn building houses for the homeless with Habitat for Humanity, they so inspired me, the following day, off I went to be a volunteer. 


 

Only one problem, no matter how hard I tried, every nail I hammered bent instead of going in straight.  Not to mention hitting my own fingers several times so I and my aching fingers quickly decided building houses was not my specialty and continued on my journey to finding ways in which I could be of service. 

Jimmy and Rosalynn founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people around the world and Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002. 

He is the author of thirty books on a wide range of subjects including political and personal memoirs, books on aging, family and religious faith, a novel of the American Revolution, a volume of his own original poetry, as well as a children's storybook which he co-authored with his daughter, Amy. 

Carter was nominated for the Grammy Awards nine times in the Best Spoken Word Album category; winning the award three times. His Grammy win in 2019 at the age of 94, made him the third oldest person to ever win one. 

"Our Endangered Values; America's Moral Crisis"; a book written by Jimmy Carter was #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list and won the Grammy Award for the spoken word production of the book. 

Carter received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999.  He put his beliefs of going beyond war into action and after leaving office, Jimmy traveled to many different countries to pray with world leaders for peace. 

Opposing racial segregation; Carter supported the growing civil rights movement and became an activist within the Democratic Party.  He was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize in 1979. 

Jimmy Carter’s long lists of well-deserved awards for his many accomplishments is not what inspired me to want to volunteer like he and Rosalynn did.  It was seeing their love for others put into action.

 

After I donated blood at a blood bank once, they gave me a T-Shirt that said.

"Blood is Life Until Given; Then its Love"! 

Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter; Peacemakers.

 (Judy Joy Jones is an author, actress, artist, photographer, poet, and librettist. Her acting credits include appearances on the Discovery Channel plus in such movies and TV programs as Dreaming of the Dead, Dora the Explorer, Trauma, and The Walking Dead. Judy’s upcoming book When a Saint Calls, Surrender! promises to be inspirational, for it concerns her work with Mother Teresa. This article was published in Street Spirit Newspaper.  Judy is a regular contributor to CityWatch)