Dear Saints,

Martin Luther King, Jr used to say, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice”. This past weekend, the people of PCLT helped to bend the arc a little more towards justice.

On Sunday morning, we gathered in Sunday school to learn about MLK and listen to selections of his speeches..  King’s words once again convicted and challenged us. We were reminded that his ideas are still relevant more than 50 years later.  And then, on Monday morning, 11 members and friends of PCLT met at the University of Texas to join with thousands of others as we marched from campus to the Capitol to Huston-Tillotson University. A great time was had by all.

Many thanks go out to Scott Pierson for teaching an informative class and organizing a great MLK event.

And in another arc-bending effort, a group from our church attended the solidarity event with the Islamic Center of Lake Travis on Sunday afternoon.  You may recall that the ICLT lost their almost-completed building to a fire over a week ago.  Members of the community and faith leaders from all over Austin united with words of love and support in light of this heartbreaking event.  New friendships were forged; we lifted up each other in acceptance and kindness. Leaders of ICLT expressed their interest in joining together to meet the current needs in our local community.  We are excited about this new opportunity to love our neighbors.

Friends, it’s an important week in the life of our country.  This week half the country will be celebrating and half the country will be marching.  This week more than ever we need to remember that we are in this together. We are called to proclaim our unity (not uniformity) in Christ, to look beyond ourselves, our self-interests, and our sense of righteousness.  This week, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have the opportunity to come together again to live out the gospel message – to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

And so I end with one more quote from the modern-day prophet Martin Luther King: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

With you in Christ’s light this week and always,

Laura

P.S.  Below are some pictures of PCLTers in action.