Minnesota Prairie Roots

Writing and photography by Audrey Kletscher Helbling

Inspiring words for all of us from President Jimmy Carter’s funeral January 9, 2025

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Encouraging words posted near a garden in the heart of downtown Faribault. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

THEIR WORDS WERE MOVING, heartfelt, inspiring. Words that spoke to a selfless, loving, compassionate and kind man. Qualities we should strive to emulate.

It was not lost on me, as I watched the televised funeral of President Jimmy Carter this morning, that some of those attending the service at the National Cathedral in Washington DC have veered far from those traits. When you’re in public office, you are held to higher standards. Or at least you should be. I hope the politicians in the crowd were listening intently.

But I don’t want to get into a political discussion here. Rather, I want to offer a recap of the eulogies that really resonated with me.

A partial quote by civil rights leader and Senator John Lewis displayed on a window in Dundas, Minnesota. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

I was especially impressed with the message delivered by Carter’s grandson Jason Carter. As I listened to this young man speak with such sincerity and eloquence, I thought, he should run for President some day. He spoke of a grandfather who was the same in public as in private, living a life of love and respect. Love. Respect. I can respect a man who, along with his wife, washed and reused plastic bags (as do I), still had a landline with dangling cord (I do) and wore crocs (I don’t). Jason brought laughter to the Cathedral while getting across his strong messages of faith, love and respect.

Peace art by Gracie Molden, Faribault Lutheran School, previously displayed at a student art show at the Paradise Center for the Arts. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

Then there’s Ted Mondale who read the eulogy written a decade ago by his father, Vice President Walter Mondale. The stand-out lines written by the elder Mondale were these: that he and Carter “told the truth, obeyed the law and kept the peace.” Those words repeated in my head. I found myself thinking, if only all leaders held to those principles.

An especially bright spot in the heart of downtown Faribault is the Second Street Garden, a pocket garden with positive messages. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo August 2019)

President Joe Biden, a long-time friend of Jimmy Carter and likewise a man of faith, focused on strength of character. Carter was, he said, a man of character who treated everyone with dignity and respect. There’s that word again—respect. He called Carter “a practitioner of good works” who followed the guideline of “love thy neighbor as thyself.” That statement followed Biden’s comment that faith requires action. I agree. There’s no doubt Carter lived his faith given his humanitarian work. Carter, Biden said, lived a life filled with the power of faith, hope and love.

From my personal art collection, peace dove art by Jose maria de Servin. (Minnesota Prairie Roots copyrighted file photo)

The Rev. Andrew Young, former US ambassador to the United Nations, spoke of a President who grew up as a minority in Sumter County, Georgia, among the majority Black. He celebrated Carter’s ability to get along with everyone, saying the President loved all of God’s children.

Certainly, many additional meaningful words were shared. But these are the messages that struck me as specific, yet broad. Words for all of us. Words that should inspire us to live better, be better.

It was fitting, too, that the gospel reading came from Matthew 5:1-16. That includes The Beatitudes from Jesus’ sermon on the mount and the four verses following. Blessed are…the poor…the meek…the peacemakers… Blessed are those who mourn.

On this national day of mourning for 100-year-old President Jimmy Carter, I feel inspired. Inspired to let my light shine (Matthew 5:16), not in a spotlight-on-me kind of way, but as someone who can light the world by being kind, caring and compassionate. By living a life of love and respect.

© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling

 

The President talks about his COVID frustrations, concerns & plans December 21, 2021

Filed under: Uncategorized — Audrey Kletscher Helbling @ 7:46 PM
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The Coronavirus. Photo source: CDC.

CONCERN. NOT PANIC.

Those words repeated in an address to the nation by President Joe Biden Tuesday afternoon as the highly transmissible omicron variant has now become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in the US.

While Biden advised calm, he also issued a strong warning to the unvaccinated that they remain at high risk for severe illness and/or death. It’s nothing we haven’t heard before.

Yet, the warning comes with a new sense of urgency as hospital beds fill and healthcare workers continue to be overwhelmed. The actions of those choosing not to get vaccinated are affecting all of us, the President said. The unvaccinated, he noted, have an obligation to themselves, their families and their country to get vaccinated.

I agree. I would emphasize, though, the obligation to others. Family. Friends. Neighbors. Strangers. The common good.

Like the President, I’m feeling tired, worried and frustrated. Frustrated particularly because we have the tools to end this pandemic. Vaccination. Testing. Masking to stop the spread. We know so much more than we did when this pandemic started, a point the President emphasized in saying, “This is not March 2020.”

But here we are, hospitals filling or full. Not enough staff to treat patients. National Guard and federal military personnel now called to help over-burdened hospitals/healthcare workers. We should never have gotten to this point.

Biden termed the misinformation out there about vaccines and the virus “wrong” and “immoral.” Some of the misinformation I’ve heard from those who oppose vaccines is unbelievable, making me wonder how anyone can believe the untruths spewed.

At this point, it seems like people have made up their minds about vaccination. I know of cases when not even the death, or near death, of a family member would convince someone to get vaccinated.

So here we are with the federal government calling up 1,000 troops to assist in hospitals. They’re already in Minnesota. And newly-arrived in Wisconsin and Indiana and other states. More ambulances are being sent to states. Additional vaccination and testing sites are being set up. Soon we can order COVID tests online, delivered free to our homes. All of these actions are necessary.

But we must also do our parts individually. And that starts with the very basic premise of caring for one another. Caring enough to get vaccinated, and boostered. Wearing masks in public settings, regardless of vaccination status. Testing if we have symptoms or have been exposed. Caring that our actions affect others.

I feel gratitude for those 200 million plus Americans who are fully-vaccinated. They did the right thing. For themselves. For their families, friends, neighbors, community, strangers. For the common good. For their country. I can only hope the remaining however many million will choose to do the right thing and get vaccinated. I don’t want unvaccinated people to land in the hospital on a ventilator. Or worse. Die. Nor do I want vaccinated individuals who may experience a health crisis unable to get the care they need because our understaffed hospitals are filled with unvaccinated COVID patients.

NOTE: If you are anti-vaccine, anti-mask, anti-whatever, don’t bother to comment. I won’t publish those views, or misinformation, on this, my personal blog.

© Copyright 2021 Audrey Kletscher Helbling