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Interview on a Good Life: Krec

The definition of living a good life varies from person to person. Although Jonathan

Haidt uses philosophy to give his idea of an absolute meaning, it is possible for that to be altered

from person to person. To get a better idea of what a good life is from someone closer to home, I

interviewed my pastor, Reverend Anita James-Carnes of Louisburg United Methodist Church.

Reverend Anita James-Carnes was born January 12, 1943 in Zanesville, Ohio. She did

not come from a broken home, and she had strong values instilled in her from day one. A small

farm loaded with chickens, pigs and cows was her home until she left for college. There was no

electricity in their home and according to her, times were simpler. She was brought to church

every Sunday and never dreaded a second of it. At age sixteen, she met and began dating her

soon-to-be husband, Donald Earl James. He was enlisted in the Army and did his time while she

was attending college at Ohio State University. Prior to graduation, she had spent some time

becoming a camp counselor during one of her summers. During one of her camp sessions, she

felt a sort of supernatural aura take over her, and she left to go sit under a tree. At that moment,

she surrendered her life to Jesus Christ. Upon graduation, she became a high school teacher at

Maysville High School. She and Don had three children: Don, Dana, and Amy. After teaching

for thirty-two years, she finally decided that she needed a lifestyle change. She went back to

school to get a degree in ministry, and then became a pastor at Westville United Methodist

Church in Urbana once all of her children began living on their own. Two of her children moved

to North Carolina, so in 2006, she and her husband followed. However, her husband had been

diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma (a type of bone cancer) for a couple years. In 2008, she

watched her beloved husband die in a hospital room at the University of North Carolina at

Chapel Hill. They were married forty-five years. She continued to live her life, though. She
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accepted a preaching position at Ebenezer and Wesley Chapel United Methodist Churches (she

had a dual charge). However, before she preached at these churches, she and her late husband

attended Louisburg United Methodist. After her appointment at those two was finished, she

returned to Louisburg and became a member of the choir, where she met her next husband,

James Carnes. They began dating and about three months later, got married. Soon after the

wedding, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. She spent the next four years caring for Jim, but in

2016, he passed away. Since then, Anita has accepted a charge as associate pastor at the same

church that she met her second late husband at.

Over the years, Reverend Anita and I have grown close. I have helped her take care of

Jim, cleaned their house, mowed their lawn, drove them to doctors appointments, etc. She has

done an incredible amount for my family and I. Because of the relationship that we have, I

decided to interview her on a good life. The reason I wrote about her over all of the other people

I talked to was because shes been through such difficult and trying times while maintaining a

positive attitude the entire time. I had to know her secret.

Rev. James-Carnes had some very interesting answers to my questions. When asked her

opinion on what a good life is, her only response was following the Lord Jesus Christ and His

purpose for our life. This intrigued me, because every other person I have had the pleasure of

speaking with (and even this classs book, Happiness Hypothesis by Jonathan Haidt) has said

that a good life is made of multiple different things. Everyones definition has varied, but it was

never described in one sentence before her. I then asked her about the key to living a good life.

She outlined a verse from scripture. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and

strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater
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than these (Mark 12:30-31). This verse tells the most important of the Ten Commandments.

Reverend Anita James-Carnes lives her life based off of those two pieces.

I asked her about the route to her current beliefs on a good life. What caused them? What

led her to think the way that she does? She explained that it was all because of her parents. They

were very avid clergy members and her mother never let anyone leave their house empty-

handed. She then quoted John Wesley, the founder of the United Methodist denomination: Earn

all you can, save all you can, and give all you can. She says that to start yourself on the right

track to living a good life, you need to greet each new day with a positive attitude. Look for ways

to help others. Even things as little as keeping a clean house and making your bed when you

wake up in the morning can help you get a start to living a good life and having positive

emotions. I mentioned to her that different people have different views on living a good life. She

agreed, and said that although its true for varying people to have varying definitions, varying

cultures have extreme differences. Its impossible for there to be a single, universal meaning of

a good life. There are too many lifestyle conditions, religions, financial statuses, etc. for there to

be a singular definition of living a good life. As long as someone has their own idea and lives

their life to the fullest, there should be no dispute. We as humans have no authority to tell

someone that their view on life is incorrect. The one thing shes done in her life to ultimately set

her on her path to a good life was accepting Jesus into heart. It set her on a track to becoming a

teacher, becoming a mother, and then finally becoming a pastor.

Another reason I picked Pastor Anita to write about was because her answers were

intriguing. I asked her, what is happiness? She explained that happiness is a surface emotion.

Happiness is not permanent whatsoever. Happiness comes and goes in waves and can be caused
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by literally anything. The real thing we as humans search for is joy. Joy stems from peace and

love. Happiness is a momentary feeling of joy, while joy is a total feeling of peace and love.

Reverend James-Carnes said that she only regrets one thing and she would change a

couple things about her life if she could. She regrets never learning to play the piano, and she

wishes she could have changed her health as well as the health of her late spouses. When she was

fourteen, she has rheumatic fever and it eventually affected her heart. She recently went into

Atrial Fibrillation (irregular heartbeats leading to fluctuations in blood flow). Shes been in and

out of the hospital. However, she said that the reason she would like to be healthier is so that she

could help more people. She explained that she would also like to have changed her first and

second husbands health, although she stated that if it werent for their conditions, she would not

be who she is today. She said that the best thing to ever have happened in her life was in June of

1977 when she accepted Jesus into her life. It was the event that kick started her entire life. The

most difficult points in her life was taking care of her husbands. She was most heartbroken the

days that Don and Jim died. I asked her about grieving and the best way to get over grief is to

keep busy and to put your hope in something. She devoted her life to Jesus and letting Him take

care of her along the way. To end things off, I asked her to give me some advice for my future

and living a good life. She repeated Mark 12:30-31, Love the Lord your God with all your

heart, soul, mind and strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no

commandment greater than these.

This interview related to this class greatly. Reverend Anita James-Carnes spends her life

in service of God and others. In this class, weve discussed plenty of times that there are many

components to living a good life, and although there is a general philosophical definition, there

are differences that can vary from person to person. A couple components to the general idea of a
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good life is having some sort of supernatural beliefs and feeling that you have a purpose. My

pastor has lived her seventy-five years in the shadow of God and made sure she helps as many

people as possible. She has always had a purpose, even when she was a child. Overall, my pastor

has lived a truly good life.

(Word count: 1288)

Sent to:

Reverend Anita James-Carnes

811 Timberlake Rd

Franklinton, NC

27525
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