Dan Pallotta

Jimmy Carter

On Chris Markl's recommendation I drove down to Plains Georgia on Sunday to sit in on a Bible class that former President Jimmy Carter teaches from time to time. It was at a little church called Maranatha Baptist. He joined after he returned home to Plains from Washington, leaving the church there that he had previously belonged to for many years because they refused to admit a black man to worship. He's taught Bible classes since he was 18, and taught them even as President.

I got there early and got a front row seat and he talked for 45 minutes. He spoke about how Jesus was the Prince of Peace and asked rhetorically if we were for peace. He was very affable, smiled a lot, and he and Rosalyn stood for pictures with folks afterwards. They bought 2.4 acres of land in Plains in 1961 and built a little ranch house there. It's the only house they've ever owned. They passed around four wooden bowls for the collection. Each of them hand-made, hand-carved by Jimmy Carter himself as a gift to the church. He's incredibly smart. Could just as easily have been a professor of theology as a President. He's a rare character. He has a powerful presence. You can see why a nation would have turned to him at a time of disenchantment and made him their leader.

Very powerful to be in the presence of one who has had the torch handed down to him from George Washington, and one in whom the hopes of 200 million people were once vested. There's a sacredness to the presidency, not borne of the person, but of the fact that the person represents the choice of a people. I'm glad I made the trek.

Sharing Miracles

Bruce Springsteen wrote a eulogy for his friend and E-Street band member Danny Federici that reads as well as "Born to Run" plays in concert. When I was reading this particular section, it reminded me of just how I used to feel about many of the people who I had the privilege to work with at Pallotta TeamWorks...and it especially reminded me of how we used to feel when a few of us would watch those closing ceremonies together...

If we didn't play together, the E Street Band at this point would probably not know one another. We wouldn't be in thi s room together. But we do play together. And every night at 8 p.m., we walk out on stage together and that, my friends, is a place where miracles occur. . .old and new miracles. And those you are with, in the presence of miracles, you never forget. Life does not separate you. Death does not separate you. Those you are with who create miracles for you, like Danny did for me every night, you are honored to be amongst. Of course we all grow up and we know "it's only rock and roll"... but it's not. After a lifetime of watching a man perform his miracle for you, night after night, it feels an awful lot like love.