I am so far behind in my posts, that I am sometimes tempted to declare a victory and move on.
However, I thought I would just write a quick post about my visit to Plains, Georgia and then go back and keep on working on what I’ve skipped over in the interim.
I arrived at my Scott and Lesley’s house in Phenix City, Alabama a few days ago. Scott is my brother and Lesley is his wife, and they have a lovely spot right next to their house for Flo – and they even put in an outlet so that I can plug in while I am there.
I transferred the wreath that Craig gave me when they left Fayetteville – and I had augmented with Dollar Tree poinsettias and hung on Flo the Airstream during the Airstream rally in Savannah – to their house.
I kind of remembered that Jimmy Carter taught Sunday school at his church in Plains where he lives with Rosalynn. I think it was Lesley that told that they have a website and a schedule of when he teaches. I looked it up and found the schedule, and he would be at Maranatha Baptist Church almost all of the Sundays this December.
Well, it’s never too late to add something to my bucket list!
I decided that I would make the trip to Plains to attend Sunday school with Jimmy Carter. The only difficulty was that you had to be there ahead of time to insure that you got a seat. The class starts at 10:00, but you had to be there by 9:00 for orientation. Doors open at 8:00, but they recommend arriving earlier than that.
I got up at 5:00, left Scott’s house at 6:00 and arrived shortly after 7:00. Each carload received a number so we would know where to line up. My number was 26. While I was waiting, I took a picture of a family that had driven over from Atlanta. They said they had a three hour drive to get here! After I took their picture, they took mine.
Here I am, with my new friend, Amanda.
The line worked its way toward the door, and we had to empty our pockets and our bags were searched. We were also wanded to make sure we weren’t carrying any weapons.
Miss Jan was the “Mistress of Ceremonies”. In addition to letting us know what to expect and what we could and couldn’t do, she shared stories of her experiences with the Carters.
For instance, she was Amy Carter’s fourth grade teacher. She went with the family to the inauguration. She stayed with them for about a week and helped get Amy settled in Washington.
She also told us about some of President Carter’s contributions to the church. When they first started this church, he asked what they needed. They asked him to make collection plates. He made four plates out of Philippine mahogany, and they are still in use today. She passed them around so we could look at them.
Jimmy even signed his work on the back.
Of course, although I already had these shots – as well as others – I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to take this picture of them sitting up near the sanctuary.
Miss Jan also told us that he made the cross in the church. The wood was donated by a church member, and it was persimmon that had been under water for 100 years.
She didn’t explain why the wood had been under water for 100 years. I was curious, but she didn’t open up the floor to questions.
On the seat of the pew in front of me was this sign. I was curious about who would be sitting there.
This is the order of worship that they gave us when we entered. If we stayed for the worship service after Sunday school, we would be able to have our picture taken with the Carters.
Miss Jan told us that when Jimmy came out, he should say “good morning.” We were to respond loudly – after all, he is 92. She told us not to make him repeat himself. Then he would ask us where we were from. There were three sections in the nave, and he would address each section. He didn’t want us to repeat a state or country that was already said. She told us that we were allowed to take pictures during that time. As soon as he asked if there were any pastors or missionaries in the group today, we were to put our cameras and phones away. Under no circumstances were we to stand up when he walked in, ask questions or to applaud.
Then, without any additional fanfare or announcement, Jimmy Carter came out and greeted us.
There were about ten different states represented as well as a couple countries. One of the countries was Taiwan. He chuckled and replied, “Our president-elect has been talking to you.”
Before he began his lesson, he spent some time talking about what he had been doing and current events. Since this took place on December 18, he spent some time talking about the meeting of the Electoral College. He explained that the voting was going to go the way the results went on November 8. If for some reason, it was sent back to the house, each state would get one vote each – regardless of the population of the state. Given the way the vote went, this would not change the outcome of the election.
He talked about some of the work he is doing with countries around the world. He spoke a bit about the work the Carter Center is doing in Somalia and the fact that they can often times work as emissaries between the US government and Somalia when diplomatic relations are strained.
After talking about what is going on in the world and what he is doing, he taught the lesson, which focused on Matthew 1 : 18-25, which is the Christmas story.
But first, he talked about the difference between the gospels of Matthew and Luke.
He told us that Luke is written from Mary’s point of view and that Matthew is written from Joseph’s point of view. Luke is filled with singing – there are four times when song is used. Matthew is filled with dreams – there are four times when dreams play a part.
When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant and that they were engaged but not yet married, he was going to quietly call off the engagement, which would have been viewed as an act of kindness in their day.
But, Joseph had a dream where he learned that Mary was carrying a child conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was to call him Emmanuel, which means “God with us” and he will save his people from their sins. When he woke up, he did as the angel commanded.
The lesson continued, but I am a bit muddled about some of the details. I was overcome with the excitement of the day and just a wee bit tired from getting up so early.
After the lesson, we were allowed to get up, use the restroom and stretch our legs. When we heard the organ begin to play, we had to return to our seats for the church service. We were allowed to leave after Sunday school, but we wouldn’t be permitted to return. Only people who stayed to the end of the service would be able to have their pictures taken with the Carters.
The organ sounded and I returned to my seat. Shortly thereafter, the Carters entered the nave and the Secret Service agent sat down in front of me.
I was always fascinated with their communication devices!
The service was different than any Christian regular Sunday worship service I’d been to before. There were hymns and prayers, but no readings and no sermon. This might have been something special for Christmas, as the choir presented what they called a Cantata. It was a medley of Christmas carols with some spoken parts. A young woman dressed as Mary, complete with a head wrap that looked much like a hijab carried her baby in and sat on a chair the by the altar during the Cantata.
And then the service was over and it was time to have our pictures taken with the Carters.
We were told to stay seated until our row was called. When we it was our turn, we were to hold whatever we had with us – don’t set it down on a pew – and hand our camera or phone to the woman who was taking the pictures. Walk up, turn around smile. When the photographer handed our phone to the person on the other side of the aisle, we were to leave. Keep your hands at your side, don’t touch them, don’t hand them anything and don’t talk to them other than a brief greeting. (Good morning, thank you, Merry Christmas – that sort of thing.)
So, finally, I got to the head of the line.
The photographer was snapping away like crazy.
I got close to my spot and turned around.
And just like that it was over. I walked down the aisle we were told to walk down and out the door.
When I got outside, the rain had passed and the clouds parted.
After that, I went to explore Plains.
But, I will save that for another post.