Dear Caldwell Family:
This morning’s Charlotte Observer presented two stories that, for me anyway, prompted the question: Where is the real goodwill?
In a business story that only an accountant could love, a reporter explained how Bank of America’s net income may decrease if it draws money from an account on its balance sheet known in finance circles as “goodwill.” When one company buys another and pays more than the purchased company’s net worth, it puts the extra it paid (known as a ”premium”) in a “goodwill” account. Then, if later events diminish the value of the acquired company, the company that did the buying can draw money from its goodwill account to try to make up some its losses. Confused? I told you, details only business wonks could love.
Another, far more nationally visible story in today’s news concerns President Obama’s ill-informed firing of an African-American government official. It seems that the President did so after seeing a snippet of a speech the government official had made, a misleading snippet put together by the President’s opponents. In her speech, the government official confessed to a long-ago personal episode when she struggled with the race of a white man seeking help. The President was not informed that she was telling a story from years ago. Assuming she was talking about something she did in her current role, well, she was fired. Today, President Obama apologized to her and has offered her re-employment. By all accounts, she has handled herself with grace and composure.
In the last few weeks, we have been talking about hard issues, including race. More than 60 people are participating in the Caldwell 4×4 dialogues, small group discussions where we can talk openly about our lives and our differences. The government official made a courageous confession about a mistake she once made. Her point was she had learned from it. But our hard-edged, divided society has little goodwill left, it seems. Now her act of courage has blown up in everyone’s faces. We will hear the media chatter on about the state of race relations for the next several days, without, I expect, much goodwill of their own. Let us pray that God is in the midst of our 4×4 dialogues, so that they amount to a small step toward the day when we can have open, frank, constructive discussions about difference and race and sexuality without it become a media circus.
I am delighted that Insook Lee, a very present and close friend of Caldwell and a professor at Hood Theological Seminary, has accepted my invitation to preach this Sunday. Insook has been a wise and steady voice in our Adult Sunday School class for the last several year. We are grateful that she considers Caldwell her church home. I look forward to her message.
Our prayers go with Maggie Dougherty and Bo Jordan, who are to be married this weekend, a joyous event for us all. Our prayers also remain with others experiencing difficulty and illness. God’s strong arms lift up you all.
Peace,
John