CHILLS

"He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God" (Micah 6:8, NIV Version of Bible Verse)

It was 1979 when I, an idealistic 19-year-old political science major with a scary-bad perm, visited my parents in Washington D.C. over spring break. While there, I unexpectedly witnessed history being made on the front porch of the White House. I still remember the chills I got seeing Anwar Sadat, the President of Egypt and Menachem Begin, the Prime Minister of Israel, sign the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty . At their sides was the humble U.S. President Jimmy Carter who had facilitated the treaties. I invite you to watch this short news clip of the event for yourself: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/video/march-26-1979-begin-sadat-sign-egypt-israel-46803366 Did you get the chills? I still do even 46 years later.

This treaty-signing was touted as an actual miracle credited to Jimmy Carter, though only Sadat and Begin would receive the Nobel Peace Prize for this work. The powerful handshakes between these three men gave firm hope of a great new era of peace -shalom -salam for these countries and for the world.

Witnessing this event reminded me why I had chosen to be a political science major. I wanted to be part of this kind of politics, the kind that can be used for good rather than harm. I believed that my country’s democratic vision, as proclaimed in our Declaration of Independence and established in our U.S. Constitution, could pave the way for a world with no more wars. I believed that “we the people” could uniquely bring the world together to solve the ills of our times. I believed in MLK’s dream for the flourishing of every human and for all to be “free at last.” I saw politics as a means to create a world where love, not harm, for our neighbors was the only acceptable norm.

Sadly, before I graduated college, Anwar Sadat would be assassinated, and the various middle peace treaties would soon be tried, tested and tossed aside. In all the years since, the nations of the world would continue to wage war, and the wounds on humanity continue to be wrought today.

This week we experienced a strange convergence of celebrations. Jimmy Carter’s life and legacy was celebrated during the same time that was already set aside to celebrate the life and legacy of Martin Luther King, Junior. And not only that, these two celebrations converged upon the celebration of the inauguration of the 47th elected U.S. president. Regrettably, #47 has a life and legacy diametrically opposed to Carter’s and King’s.

The first 24 hours of this new regime has given me chills of the opposite kind experienced back in my naïve 19s when I witnessed history being made at the White House. The chills from this incoming president are the kind you get in a very scary movie, like Alien or The Amityville Horror or The Zombie Holocaust, all horror films that came out in 1979 and still scare me today.

But the nice thing about any horror flick is that it doesn’t last long. And my scary-bad ’79 perm only lasted a few months. But who knows how long we will have to endure the horror that is this current presidency. This week, I’m longing for the Jimmy Carter kind of chills again. I hope you are too.

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