Rest in power, Rosalynn Carter

A First Lady who was one of us

Mrs. Rosalynn Carter, who died Sunday, was a church lady who moved gracefully in the halls of power, though she never strayed from the zeitgeist of that woman sitting in the pew next to you — and I mean that in the best of sense of the description.

Church ladies don’t have a great reputation (they’re seen as over-bearing and judgmental) but the church ladies I know and knew were loving and steadfast and always there with a casserole or a quip. They hold the church together. They prop up the fallen. Without a promise of anything other than a home in heaven, they do the right thing.

At age 96, Mrs. Carter had only recently entered hospice care. She was suffering from dementia, and being lovingly cared for by her family, which includes her husband, Jimmy, who is also ailing.

Mrs. Carter was humble. She kept to the work at hand, and much of the secular press didn’t know what to make of her (or her husband). When Pres. Carter told Playboy magazine that he had looked at women and lusted in his heart — and thus felt every bit as responsible for the sin as if he’d carried through on those thoughts — we of the stricter Christian faiths nodded. We got it. You think it, it’s the same as doing it.

From all indications, both of the Carters tried to live like Jesus. On a grand scale, that can look confusing, especially if you’re accustomed to more craven behavior. On other words, we who profess the Christian faith would do well to live like Mr. and Mrs. Carter. She managed to be that (dreaded word) help-meet to her husband without losing herself or her humanity. From her husband:

She will be remembered for her utter decency and her concern about and efforts around issues such as mental health and human rights. What a lovely legacy left for us by a lovely woman. Rest in power, Mrs. Carter.