Dear Caldwell,
It’s been a tense week in our nation, which is not what this week is supposed to “feel like.”
When the national Thanksgiving holiday was created, it was designated to be a time for giving thanks to our Heavenly Creator for our abundant blessings and provisions. The national holiday was instituted by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, in the midst of a civil war that pitted brother against brother, state against state, a nation against a would-be nation. So, Thanksgiving came to be when we were a nation divided, yet we were also a nation that looked to God for healing and wholeness.
It is the same now, this week, as protesters express their demands for racial justice, some in peaceful ways, some in ways our President had condemned. So, we are not the first generation to feel these mixed emotions – tension, division and yet hope – at Thanksgiving time.
Last night at the Mecklenburg Ministries city-wide Interfaith Service, 1,200 believers of all faiths gathered to demonstrate the kind of peacemaking, bridge-building and unity that defies other images of disunity in our nation. The high point of the evening, according the Charlotte Observer, was when the children sang “We Shall Overcome.” The kids choir was led by our own Music Director Anne Hunter Eidson, and we actually got a sneak preview of this same song in worship last Sunday. You can see some pictures (including some great shots of Caldwell kids) on the Observer Website here.
So, as we move from Sunday to Sunday this week, we look to our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer with both thanks and hope. If you are going to be with family, I wish you all the comfort and meaning of this day.
On a personal note, I have been in Atlanta for much of the last 7 days with my mother in the hospital. She is an end-stage Leukemia patient. We hope to be discharged from the hospital today and will return home with in-home care. She wants to try one final chemotherapy drug, which we are trying to arrange.
I am deeply grateful to Evie, Sally, Anne and Susan (with constant help from Smitty and Manley) for doing a great job back “home” at Caldwell and to those of you have expressed your prayerful support. My family and I feel your arms around me at all times – and those of our God.
Please also keep Angela Everett, Patrick Slattery and Ryan Kingston in your prayers as well. Their mothers are also going through difficult health issues.
Finally, please note that Caldwell This Week, our weekly e-newsletter, will not be published this week as the church office is closed Thursday and Friday.
Happy Thanksgiving.
In Christ.
John