Wednesday, November 17, 2010
A bed of leaves and a very good day
I am sitting at my kitchen table back home in Edina, which has been invaded by snowmen-- they are everywhere! Many of them seem to be just standing around looking for something to do.
Up until 8 this evening though, I was in Atlanta. It was a wonderful, full day. Among other things, I heard the witness of some amazing people who lost family members to the worst kind of murder and found a way to forgive the killers-- I will write about that on Sunday. I also had a wonderful little walk with Sister Helen Prejean, and coffee with one of my favorite people from law school, Nancy Field. There was a wholeness, a peacefulness to the day; a purity regained, maybe.
The heart of that feeling was a visit this afternoon to the Carter Center, which was empty save for me and my good company. I have always admired much about President Carter, and last time I was in Atlanta, he came to hear me speak.
The Center itself is quietly beautiful. [you can, and should, click on the image to enlarge it]
It is a place of refuge. President Carter was in office during a time of such tumult and hurt; there is something elegant and lovely in the equipoise offered by a calm lake, a glimpse of fall, and a bed of golden leaves laid before us... all of us refugees from something.
Up until 8 this evening though, I was in Atlanta. It was a wonderful, full day. Among other things, I heard the witness of some amazing people who lost family members to the worst kind of murder and found a way to forgive the killers-- I will write about that on Sunday. I also had a wonderful little walk with Sister Helen Prejean, and coffee with one of my favorite people from law school, Nancy Field. There was a wholeness, a peacefulness to the day; a purity regained, maybe.
The heart of that feeling was a visit this afternoon to the Carter Center, which was empty save for me and my good company. I have always admired much about President Carter, and last time I was in Atlanta, he came to hear me speak.
The Center itself is quietly beautiful. [you can, and should, click on the image to enlarge it]
It is a place of refuge. President Carter was in office during a time of such tumult and hurt; there is something elegant and lovely in the equipoise offered by a calm lake, a glimpse of fall, and a bed of golden leaves laid before us... all of us refugees from something.
