Charlotte has a reputation for its often non-sensical pattern of streets and intersections. Where else could you stand at the corner of Queens and Queens and Providence and Providence? Yesterday, God seemed to add to the humor when a rainbow appeared over much of South Charlotte. I happened to be on Providence Road at the time and snapped this shot.
Here is the good news: We are reminded by it and every rainbow – even on dark days like this one, as we grieve the tragedy in Colorado – that our Creator has promised to love us through whatever we are facing. Thus, in a sense, we stand at the corner of God’s Providence and God’s Promise.
On Sunday:
* The 9:45 adult Sunday school will wrap up a two week look at the issues and decisions made at the recent PCUSA General Assembly.
* It will be unofficial “Seminary Sunday” in worship as Intern Liz Wager preaches on her last Sunday with us and Seminarian-to-be Susan Pierson leads liturgy.
* At 6 pm, we will conclude our two-week study of America’s vast wealth disparity as seen through the lens of faith.
* The July issue of the Caldwell Good News! newletter will be available for you to pick up.
In regard to the unspeakable losses in Colorado, I close with a Mahatma Gandi quote that a college classmate shared today:
“Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of humanity. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of humanity. Nonviolence is not passivity in any shape or form. It is the most active force in the world. Nonviolence is the supreme law. Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the tra…ining for nonviolence. One person who can express nonviolence in life exercises a force superior to all the forces of brutality. We are constantly being astonished these days at the amazing discoveries in the field of violence, but I maintain that far more undreamt of and seemingly impossible discoveries will be made in the field of nonviolence. My optimism rests on my belief in the infinite possibilities of the individual to develop nonviolence. The more you develop it in your own being, the more infectious it becomes till it overwhelms your surroundings and by and by might oversweep the world. We have to make truth and nonviolence not matters for mere individual practice, but for practice by groups and communities and nations. That, at any rate, is my dream. When the practice of nonviolence becomes universal, God will reign on earth as God reigns in heaven.”
