sea ♪ ♪ ♪ oh trinity of love and power ♪ your children shield in danger's our ♪ from rock and tempest ♪ fire and foe ♪ protect them wheresoever they go ♪ thus evermore shall rise to

thee glad hymns of praise from land and see ♪ ♪

he might be the vice presidential nominee. with his broadest men he said i

already decided to run but i will be the democratic nominee for president, not vice president. 41 of our nation's most religious presidents it is appropriate to celebrate jimmy carter's remarkable life in this magnificent cathedral. his values gave him his supporr animating his support for civil rights at home and going abroad and only democratic president elected between 1968 and 1992. his faith brought integrity to the presidency after the water gate and vietnam. i'll never lie to you, he promised. it was a vow he fulfilled, but

his faith receiver malik taylored other re-ridge -- respected other religions as well. he was a light to hanukkah and created u.s. holocaust memorial museum, which i had the honor of sharing. he came to our house for a pa passover sadder after negotiating the treaty between egypt. it's time to redeem his presence and also lay to rest the myth that his greatest achievements came only as a former president. the test of american presidents is not the number of years they serve, but the duration of their accomplishments. by this measure, jimmy carter was among the most consequential

one term presidents in american history. his intellect and prodigious work and mass details were crucial to his success at home and abroad. to do what he believed was the right thing taking controversial challenges on, regardless of political consequences and frankly there were many. much of his agenda passed with bipartisan support and notion in today's hyper pol politics and independent surveys indicated he had one of the highest success rates in passing his major legislation of any american president. and he was remarkable -- remarkably accessible to the press and to the american

people. this president from the deepest part of the deep south championed civil rights appointing more people of color and women to senior executive positions and judgeships than all previous 38 presidents before him. he created the department of education and dramatically increased funding for low and moderate income students. we can thank him for all the ethics in government laws, comprehensive civil service reform, the creation of fema to coordinate natural disaster relief and rebuilding that remained crucially important today and we see it in los angeles. jimmy carter was also the greatest environmental president since theodore roosevelt. giving 80 million acres in alaska to national park system. and his global 2000 report forecast climate change.

his energy bills were critical to move our country from dependence on foreign oil to energy security. we are now as a result the largest oil and gas producer in the world. he provided the first incentives for conservation, and inaugurated the era of clean energy and symbolized it with solar panels he installed on the white house room underappreciated at the time but now widely recognized by republicans and democrats alike, president carter was the great deregulator, winning the legislative battles to loosen the regulatory bonds and shackles on airlines thereby knocktizing air travel on trutrucking and rails --

knocktizing airlines and trucking and leaving them to the cable tv era and even the beer industry, which encouraged local craft beers, and he did so without compromising health and safety. these were innovative for today's economy. nothing better embodies president carter than how he dealt with the inflation that beleaguered the nation under three presidents to president nixon, ford and himself in the 19 70s. he chose paul volcker to lead the federal reserves and knowing volcker's tough policy would raise interest rates and unemployment because paul told him that and would do so in a presidential election year.

you take care of the economy, paul, i'll take care of the politics. inflation indeed dropped like a rock after he left office and remained low for decades. abroad, jimmy carter laid the building blocks for a better world. he was the first president to make human rights a priority for u.s. foreign policy. and this led directly to the release of thousands of political prisoners in latin america, and stimulated them to a lasting democratic transition. he ushered in a new era of hemisphereic relations with the panama canal treaties and the toughest battle of his presidency. he uniquely combated the soft power of human rights, championing freedom for the east

countries and tripling the immigration of soviet jews. he combined that with hard power, rebuilding america's military strength after its host water gate -- post water gate decline. he negotiated a major nuclear arms treaty for the soviets while at the same time initiated every single weapons system that came online in the 1980s. those new weapons helped end the cold war. he normized relations with -- normalized relation withs china, and even his critics applauded his tough measures after the soviets invaded afghan tan. his lasting memory and one he's most proud of is bringing peace through the middle east and greatest act of diplomacy, the camp david accords.

for 13 days and nights, he negotiated with israel and egypt's leaders. personally drafting more than 20 peace proposals and settling them between the israeli and egyptian delegations. and he saved the agreement at the eleventh hour and it was the eleventh hour, by appealing to the people. for the past 45 years, egypt israel peace treaty has never been violated and laid the foundation for the abraham accord. on the other side of the ledger was iran. jimmy carter did not lose iran, but the hostage crisis was a major factor in denying him a second term. despite his support for the shaw. because he placed the safe return of the hostages above his

own political fortunes, he took full responsibility for the failure of the bold hostage rescue mission, and worked tirelessly, even after his bitter reelection defeat to ronald reagan. securing their release on the last day of his presidency. in the end, jimmy carter taught all of us how to live a life fulfilled with faith and service. he said i have one life to live, i feel like god wants me to do the best i can do with it. to let me live my life so it will be meaningful. well, mr. president, you've more than achieve that had goal. he belongs in the foothills of making the u.s. stronger and the

world safer. jimmy carter has earned his place in heaven, but just as he was free with sometimes unsolicited advice for his presidential successors, the lord of all creation should be ready for jimmy's recommendations on how to make god's ground a more peaceful place.

>> in my church, we sing a song that says from the moment that i wake up until i lay my head, i

will sing of the goodness of god. i don't know how many people can say that, i can't, but my grandfather certainly can. from the moment that he woke up until he laid his head, his life was a testament to the goodness of god, and i thank all of you for being here to celebrate this life. to the presidents and first ladies, it is a great honor to have you here. you know the human side of the american presidency like no others, and we appreciate you. to the vice presidents, other distinguished guest and friends of all kind, thank you for being here. to those of you who came from all across the world, thank you for being here to celebrate and pay tribute to my gandler father.

i say grandfather but we called him papa as many know and called grandmother mom carter and mom and papa and we spent time letting people know they were regular folks. yes, they spent four year ntsb governor's mansion and four years at the white house, but the other 92 years [ laughter ] >> they spent at home in plains, georgia. one of the best ways to demonstrate they were regular folks is to take them by that home. first ovall, it -- of all, it looks like they might have built them themselves. second of all, my grand four was likely to show up at the door in some '70s short shorts and crocs. then you'd walk in the house and it was like thousands of other grandparents' house across the suite. fishing trophies on the walls,

refrigerator was papered with pictures of grandchildren and great grandchildren. their main phone of course had a cord and was stuck to the wall in the kitchen, like the museum piece. and demonstrating their depression-era roots, they had a little rack next to the sink where they'd hang zip lock bags to dry. and demonstrating they change with the times, eventually he did get a cell phone and one time he called me, sort of early on in that process, and on my phone it said papa mobile. i answer it had of course and i said hey, papa. he said, who's this? [ laughter ] >> i said, this is jason. he said, what are you doing? i said i'm not doing anything, you called me. he said i didn't call you, i'm taking a picture. [ laughter ]

>> nuclear engineer; right. [ laughter ] >> they were small town people who never forget who they were or where they were from no matter what happened in their lives, but i recognize that we are not here because he was just a regular guy. as you heard from the other speakers, his political life and presidency for me was just not ahead of its time, it was prophetic. he had the courage and strength to stick to his principles even when they were politically unpopular. as governor of georgia half a censure reigns leading ago -- century ago, he preached an end to racial discrimination and end to mass in incarceration. in 1970s as president, he protected more land than any other president in history. 50 years ago, he was a climate warrior who pushed for a world

where we conserved energy, limited emissions, and traded our reliance on fossil fuels for expanded renewable sources. by the way, he cut the deficit, willing to de-criminalize marijuana and deregulated so many industries that he gave us cheap flights and as you heard craft beer. basically all of those years ago, he was the first millennial. [ laughter ] >> and he can make great play lists as we've heard as well. maybe this is unbelievable to you, but in my 49 years, i never perceived a difference between his public face and his private one. he was the same person no matter who he was with or where he was. and for me, that's the definition of integrity. that honesty was matched by love, it was 34567 matched by

faith and in both public and private, my grandparents did fundamentally live their lives in an effort as the bible says to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their god. sometimes i feel and felt like i shared my grandfather with the world. today's one of those days. but really he shared the world with me. the power of an atom. the beauty and complexity of a south georgia forest. when we fished, he celebrated the majesty of everything from the smallest minnow to that grand circulation of waters. and he shared this love with my boys, taking these at latah public school -- these atlanta public school kids to take them in the field and show them about row crops and wild plums. his life is a love story.

of course it's a love story about jimmy and rosyln and their 77 years of love and service. as the song says, they were the flagship of the fleet and in the last weeks he told us he was ready to see her again. his life was a broader love story about love for his fellow humans and about living out the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. i believe that that love is what taught him and told him to preach the power of human rights, not just for some people but for all people. it focused him on the power and the promise of democracy, its love for freedom, it is requirement and founding belief in the business dom of regular people raising their voices and the requirement that you respect all of those voices, not just some. that conviction made him a naval

officer, who believed and demonstrated, as you've heard, that the greatest power of america was oturu the military but -- not the power of the military but its values and he lived them both publicly and privately. you heard stu say as president, he gave voice to dissidence, stood up to dictators, brought countries together in peace. his heart broke for the people of israel. it broke for the people of palestine, and he spent his life trying to bring peace to that holy land, and he talked about it at the dinner table. it was the same in public as it was in private. for the last 40 years as you've heard, he spent his time living out that love and that faith alongside the poorest and most marginalized people in the world. and that work again has been based fundamentally on love and

respect. the carter center has 3500 employees, but only a couple hundred in the united states. the rest are spread throughout the countries where we work: ethiopia, south sudan, chad, bangladesh, and all the carter center's programs are based on a respect, that same respect for the power of regular people, even if they are in tiny villages i miles from anywhere else. to give one example, we've all heard a lot lately, a disease that's an ancient and debilitating disease of poverty, and that disease will have existed from the dawn of humanity until jimmy carter. when he started working on this disease, there were 3.5 million cases in humans every year. last year there were 14. and the thing that's remarkable is that this disease is not eliminated with medicine.

it's eliminated essentially by neighbors talking to neighbors about how to collect water in the poorest and most marginalized villages in the world. and those neighbors, truly, were my grandfather's partners for the last 40 years. as this disease has been eliminated in every village in nighnigeria or sudan or uganda, what's left is an army of jimmy and los angeles linn carters -- rosyln carters who demonstratedded their own power to change the world. that's the fundamental truth about my grandfather, it begins where it ends. when he saw a tiny 600 american village, that everybody else thinks of as poor, he recognized it. that's where he was from. that's who he was. and he never saw it as a place to send pity. it was always a place to find partnership and power, and a

place to carry out that commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. essentially he eradicated a disease with love and respect. he waged peace with love and respect. he led this nation with love and respect. to me, this life afters love story from the moment that he woke up until he laid his head. i'll conclude with this, as andy young told me, he may be gone, but he's not gone far. the outpouring of love and support that we have felt from you and from around the world has shown how many lives he's touched and how his spirt will live on in many ways for us. he'll be in the kitchen making pancakes, or in his wood shop

finishing a cradle for a great grandchild, or standing in a trout stream with mom carter or for me just walking those georgia fields and forests where he's from. thank you.

♪ amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me ♪ ♪ i once was lost but now i'm

found, was blind but now i see ♪ ♪ was grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved ♪ ♪ how precious did that grace

appear the hour i first believed ♪ ♪ through many dangers, toils, and sn snares we have already ce

'thursday and saturday grace that brought us safe thus far and grace will lead us home ♪ ♪ and grace will lead me home ♪

>> clerky, distinguished guest, and most importantly the carter family. in april 2021, jill and i

visited jimmy and rosyln on a warm spring day down in plains, georgia. we wanted to see them. rosyln met us at the front door with her signature smile and together we entered a home that they'd shared for almost 77 years of marriage. none assuming red brick ranch home. they flexed their modesty more than any trappings of power. that day the four of us sat in the living room and shared memories that spanned almost six decades. a deep friendship that started in 1974, i was a 31-year-old senator, and i was the first

senator outside of georgia, maybe the first senator to endorse his candidacy for president. it was an endorsement based on a belief is jimmy carter's end enduring attribute, character, character, character. because of that character, i believe is destiny. decemberny in our lives and -- destiny in our lives and quite frankly destiny in the nation. it's accumulation of a million things built on character that leads to a good life and a decent country. life of purpose, life of meaning. now how do we find that good life? what does it look like? what does it take to build character?

do the ends justify the means? jimmy carter's friendship taught me and through his life taught me the strength of character was more than title or the power we hold. it's the strength to understand that everyone should be treated with dignity, respect, and that everyone, and i mean everyone, deserves an even shot. not just a guarantee but a shot. you know, we have an obligation to give hate no safe harbor, and to stand up to what my dad used to say was the greatest sin of all, the abuse of power. that's not about being perfect because none of us are per if he can. we're all fallible.

it's about asking ourselves, are we striving to do things, the right things? what value -- what are the values that animate our spirit? to outplay from fear or hope, ego or generosity. do we show grace, do we keep the faith when it's most tested? or keeping the faith with the best of human kind and the best of america is a story reigns sty view and in my life of jimmy carter's life. we've heard stories and great, great eulogies. came from a house without running water or electricity. rose as a pinnacle of power. the story of a man who was that

once driven and devoted to making real the words of his savior and the story of a man who never let the tides of politics divert him from his mission to serve and shape the world. the man had character. jimmy held a deep christian faith in god, and that is his candidacy spoke and wrote about. faith as a substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen. faith founded on commandments of scripture, love the lord thy god with all thy heart, all thy mind, and all thy soul. and love thy neighbor as thy

self. easy to say, but very, very difficult to do. in his life, in this life, any walk of faith can be difficult. it can be lonely but it requires action to be the doers of the world. but in that commandment lice the essence of my view founding the gospel, founding many faith traditions, and founding the very idea of america. the very journey of our nation is a walk of sheer faith. to do the work, to be the country we say we are, to be the country we say we want to be. a nation where all are created equal in the image of god. and deserve to be treated equally throughout our lives. we've never fully lived up to that idea of america.

we've never walked away from it either because of patriots like jimmy carter. throughout his life, he showed us what it means to be a practitioner of good works and a good and faithful servant of god and of the people. and today many think he was from a bygone era but in reality he saw well into the future. a white southern ba batist fighting for civil -- baptist fighting for civil rights and brilliant nuclear engineer who led nuclear nonproliferation and a hard working farmer who championed conservation and clean energy, and a president who redefined the relationship

with the vice president. jimmy and i often talked about our dear friend walter mondale, who we all miss very much. together they formed a partnership of collaboration and truth because both were men of character. as we all know, jimmy carter also established a model post presidency by making a powerful difference as a private citizen in america, and i might add as you all know, around the world. through it all he showed us how character and faith starting with ourselves and then flow to others. at our best, we share the better parts of ourselves: joy, solidarity, love, commitment.

not for reward, but in reverence with an incredible gift of life we've all been granted. to make every minute of our time here on earth count. that's the definition of a good life, a life jimmy carter lived during his 100 years. to young people, no anyone in search of meaning and purpose, study the power of jimmy carter's example. i miss him, but i take solace in knowing he and his beloved rosalynn are reunited again. to the entire carter family, thank you, and i mean this sincerely, for sharing them both with america and the world.

we love you all. jill and i will cherish our visits, including that last one in their home. we saw jimmy as he always was, at peace with the life fully lived. a good life, of purposes and meaning, of character driven by destiny. and filled with the power of faith, hope, and love. i'll say it again, faith, hope, and love. hehehehe returned to plains, georgia -- as he returned to plains, georgia, for his final resting place, we can say good-bye in the words of the private micah, who jimmy so admired till his final breath, jimmy carter did justly, loved

mercerly, walked humbly. may god bless a good american, dear friend and good man. may he be raised up on eagle's wings and buried on the breath of dawn, and make it shine like the sun and hold you in the palm of his hand. god bless you, jimmy carter.

>> a reading from the gospel according to st. matthew. now, when jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. his disciples came to him and he began to teach them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs can the kingdom of heaven. blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth. bless redirect examination those who hunger and -- blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled. blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy. blessed are the pure in heart for they will see god. blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of god. blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the profits, who were before you. you are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? it is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. you are the light of the world, a city on a hill cannot be hidden. neither do people light a lamb and put it under a bulb. instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. in the same way, let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven. the word of the lord.

audience: thanks be to god.

>> the apostle paul in write together ephesians, the fourth chapter, the 32nd verse. be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other just as in christ god forgave you. jimmy carter for me was something of a miracle. i was born in the deep south shortly a few years after him, and it was always a place of miracles. i couldn't see how we could have

had the differences in background. coming from different places on the planet. the experiences of slave and slave owner, the diversity of color and creed, and national origin. and still become the great nation that we are in the united states of america. it was something of a miracle. and i don't mean with this any disrespect, but it's still hard

for me to understand how you could get to be president from plains, georgia. [ laughter ] >> i knew plains from my pastorate in thomasville, georgia, about 60, 70 miles south of there. i was even nervous driving through plains. and plains and sumter county gave us one of the meanest experiences that we had in the civil rights movement. so much so that martin luther king said the sheriff of sumter county, he thought was the meanest man in the world. whistled first met jimmy carter

and only thing i know about plains and sumter county is bridge chapel. he said oh, yes. he's afraid of us. and that was the last thing i wanted to here . yet time and time again, i saw him with the ability to achieve by the diversity of his personal and dr. king said greatness was characterized by differences strongly marked. you've got to have a tough mind and a tender heart.

that was jimmy carter and grew up in the south and embraced both sides. he was a minority in sumter county. just about 20, 25% of the population was white. but growing up as a minority, he became the friend of the majority and when he went to the naval academy, he asked that his roommate be the first black midshipman to come to annapolis. he said, i know minorities. i've been a minority most of my life, and maybe i can help him in his adjustments. and he went out of his way to

embrace those of us that grew up in all kinds of conflict, but that was the sensitivity, the spirituality that made james earl carter a truly great president. james earl carter was truly a child of god. not only a good farmer but a nuclear physicist, chosen by admiral to assist him in develop ago nuclear navy. but at the same time he was working on a nuclear navy, he was thinking of peace on earth

and goodwill toward all men, and especially women and children. i've known president carter for more than half of my life, and i never cease to be surprised. i never cease to be enlightened. i never cease to be inspispiredy the little deeds of peace and mercy that he shared with us every day of his life. it was president james earl carter that for me symbolized the greatness of the united states of america, and i am truly grateful for him because inspite of the harass issue -- in spite of the harshness of the depression and explosion of

inflation, he never waiverred from his commitment to god all mighty and his love of all of god's children. jimmy carter was a blessing that helped to create a great united states of america. for all of us, and many who are not able to be here, i want to say thank you. you have been a blessing from god, and your spirit will remain with us. as jason said, he may be gone, but he ain't gone far. thank you, president carter, and thank you, all mighty god.

♪ imagine there's no heaven, easy if you try, no hell below us above us only sky ♪ ♪ imagine all the people livin' for today ah ♪ ♪ imagine there's no countries it isn't hard to do nothing to kill or die for ♪

♪ and no religion, too imagine all the people livin' life in peace you ♪ ♪ you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one ♪ ♪ i hope someday you'll join us and the world will be as anemoses ♪ ♪ imagine no possessions i wonder if you can

no need for greed or hunger a brotherhood of man ♪ ♪ imagine all the people sharing all the world you ♪ ♪ you may say i'm a dreamer but i'm not the only one i hope someday you'll join us and the world will live as one ♪

>> our father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, that i will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom an