Jimmy Carter book-signing
Posted by Dave | Filed under events
On Friday the 13th of this month Jimmy Carter came to town promoting his new book about peace in Israel, Palestine and the greater middle east. I made plans to be there with enough time to get in and hear his talk about the book and the issue. However, I showed up and it turns out half the city decided to as well – by the thousands:
Long story short, I didn’t get in. They had sold out of the book by the time I got in line (the line to wait for a ticket to get in another line to get in). What really struck me was the awesome diversity I saw there. There was everyone from biker dudes to high school groups, college students to great-grandparents, folks from church and Muslim organizations, and probably everywhere else in between. For the short while I was in line, and while running around taking photos, I heard some cool conversations between everyone.
Some people outside were picketing in the parking lot. I wanted to see what their deal was. It wasn’t what I thought. One large sign had a huge cross painted on it with “PALESTINE” in bold, all-caps print across it. I thought this was profound. Did Jesus die for an independent sovereign government? Or rather for Palestinians? I loved it. I appreciate that those folks realized God is more vested in people than in a particular piece of inanimate land.
October 23rd, 2009 at 9:16 am
Brother, I enjoyed reading your entry here about Jimmy Carter. I am a fan of his. He might be the only famous person I’d ever consider attending a funeral for by flying out there. I wish you could have seen him; however I’m glad you got this experience with the diversity of people nevertheless.