INTRODUCTION Again and again citiaens'of the United States are assured by political leaders that'ours is the highest standard'of living in the World. We have indeed the most abundant life that men have ever khown. We have supermarkets overflowing with food and"other items, huge department stores crammed with merchandise'of all kinds, and parking lots and super highways clogged with expensive automobiles. Wherever navigable water is found, there > ' are large marinas filled with boats'of all types. We are told ’ we have more fbod, more television sets, more telephones, more elevators, more air conditioning, more private and commercial planes than any people' on earth. In such a civilization as this the Words' of the Son of God come home to us with meaningful intensity: “A man’s life 4°es hot consist in the abundance'of his possessions.” Men . canhot find real life'or true joy'of ultimate fulfillment in ’; things. This is because we never have enough'of the things we desire. Our true life is found in relationships with persons and in the qualities'^ faith, hope, love, joy, and peace. Above all Is'our relationship with'our Heavenly Father and Jesus our Lord. Here, life finds meaning, intensity, variety, and genuine, abiding satisfaction. THE LESSON “Antf one of the Company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge'or a divider "over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life Consisteth hot in the abundance'of the things which he poesesseth.” (Luke ; 3*: 13-15) • • - At tnts time Jesus was speaking to “an innumerable multitude of people. ” While He was speaking of witnessing for God and trusting in His Spirit in times of dire - persecution, one- of the men in the crowd interrupted Him with a question about an inheritance. The inheritance had not been divided to his satisfaction and he sought Jesus’ help in seeing that it was properly done. Jesus refused to even listen to the details of the complaint this man wanted to present. Notice the contrast: here was a great teacher of spiritual truth speaking of deathless realities, and in the crowd was-one whose principal concern was that he reap every possible materia] advantage in some legal dispute over an estate. Jesus perceived that this man’s whole life’s trust was hot k 0,1 spiritual truth, but'on monetary gain. The last of the {Ten Commandments tells us, "Thou shall hot covet ” It is \ hot wrong to heed"or even to want certain earthly things. \ We need food, clothing, and shelter. Surely it is hot wrong -JEP. degi** tep possetelan of nice things. According to the ^WMNBiracdobnt, when God placed the man and woman He* had made in their first surroundings, they found themselves hot in a wilderness but in a garden. God did hot give man one'or two scrawny fruit trees,'or a scrubby arid, or seemingly hostile place to live. The impression is that it was a verdant, luxuriant, and fragrant place with abundant provisions for man’s nourishment and delight. To “covet’? is to desire something that belongs to another and to begrudge him its possession, believing it should rather belong to you than to its legitimate'owner. This questioner'of Jesus coveted the inheritance of his brother. x Each of us possesses life as a gift from God. We have ho nipre life if we.possess many things, and we have ho less life if we possess few. This we can see the futility of covetousness. Jesus illustrated this principle with the Parable-of the Rich Fool. “There was-once a rich man who had land which Bore good crops. He began to think to himself, T don’t have a place to keep all my crops. What can I do? This is what I will do,’ he told himself; ‘I will tear down my barns and build biggerones, where I will store the grain and all my other goods. Then I will say to myself, Lucky man! You have all the good things you need for many years. Take life easy, eat, drink, and enjoy yourself! ’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night you will have to give up your life; then who will get all these things you have kept for yourself?’” And Jesus concluded, “This is Bow it is with those who pile up riches for themselves but are hot rich in God’s sight.” (Luke 12:16-10 , n»® nationality or race of this man is hot id_led. The would be fitting anywhere that crops are grown. A est is not in itself a sign of divine favor. Jesus ■_ said that God makes His sun to rise on the eviland , the good, and sends rain on the lust and the unjust. Surely one dould hot start a barn rebuilding program after ail the - harvest was gathered. The fact that there was going to be a storage problem was foreseen by this man. He was a perton who was alert to a situation involving his Work and welfare. We have to admire this man’s industry, foresight ..Mil* Here, Itowevw, w. m. that to 1th ini Jfmm Qaire us to ioo« to uod as our ultimate security. It pSKSSE-arS Wd i**" r*Pwted*y «Mured us "our Father thatwe a rTmuch rfSre ^parUiT*^^ (jj^u*uiinf!,^d Kwce'of strength and Stability. so»« way we spwxf our fliooey iTone c I Dr. King: “Everytidy Can Be Great” By Benjamin F. Chavis Special To ThePost Dr. King once said, "All men ere interdependent... Whether we realize it or not, each of ua lives eternally 'in the red.’ We are ever lasting debtors to known and un known men and women.” As that quote clearly shows, Dr. King’s greatness lay not just in his amazing capacity to galvanize the civil rights movement into a potent force for good, equally important, he also understood and acknowledged the solid contributions which others made to that great struggle. Take the Montgomery bus boy cott of 1955, for example. Most of us know about Rosa Parks. But how many of us know the name of Joanne Robinson? Ms. Robinson was the co-chairwoman of the Women’s Political Council back then. When Mrs. Parks was arrested it was Ms. Robinson and her organization which helped get the word out about the boycott .She was a teacher at Alabama State College, the local black college. The night after Mrs. Parks' arrest, Ms. Robinson by herself, secretly ran off 40,000 boycott leaflets on the college mimeograph machine. She then called all the teachers in her organization and told them to have a student ready to pick up the leaflets as she drove by their schools. The students were there, they distributed the leaflets within the segregated public school system tI Rev. Benjamin F. Chavis .UCCCFRJ executive director and word was quickly spread throughout the community. Then there was E. D. Nixon, a crack organizer with A. Philip Randolph’s union, the Brother hood of Sleeping Car Porters, and president of the Montgomery NAACP. In fact, Mrs. Parks, at the time of her arrest, was the local NAACP secretary as well as an activist in her own right, When Mrs Parks was arrested, it was Nixon who went to the jail with Attorney Clifford Durr to bail her out. Nixon had already recognized the oratorical power and leadership potential of the voung Martin Luther King, just 27 years old at the time. When Nixon telephoned the black ministers of Montgomery to suggest a boycott organizing committee, he also suggested that they meet at Dr. King’s church. As Nixon recalls, "I intended to pin his (Dr. King's) name to a star.’’ And let’s not forget Rufus Lewis, who had organized a voter’s league back in the late 1940s to increase black voting strength in Mont gomery. When the boycott began in 1954, he became the head of the boycott Transportation Coriimit tee and set up the system which, with military precision, moved thousands and thousands of black folks every day for 381 days. Ms. Robinson, Ms. Nixon and Mr. Lewis - all of them were regular folk just like you and me. However, because of their already-established networks and by working together under Dr. King’s spiritual leader ship, they were able to use the spark of Mrs. Parks' arrest to ignite a community. As Dr. King said, "Everybody can be great, because anybody can serve...you only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love ” And, I would add, you also need a commitment to take risks in the interest of your people Editor's Note: Benjamin F Chavis Jr is executive director of the United Church of Christ s Com mission for Racial Justice. Allstate Insurance Company has announced that Angela Lloyd has completed the Company's Sales Training course held at the Allstate Field Training Center in Atlanta Ms. Lloyd is originally from Rocky Mount, N.C.; she is a 1978 graduate of Rocky Mount Senior High School and a 1982 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She holds a B A. degree in psychology Agent Lloyd will be working out of the Sears Financial Center, East land Mall, 5599 Central Avenue, Charlotte. A full circle of protec tion including homeowners, life, auto, business insurance, and motor club will be offered; she will also represent Allstate Finance CPLC Celehrates National Community College Month A beach party, an encore pre sentation of “A Chorus Lane,” a free lunch hour musical series, and the kick-off of an alumni association lead the list of special activities at CPCC during February. The special activities at Central Piedmont Community College are in celebration of National Community College Month. “This month gives CPCC an op portunity to help people become more aware of this community oriented institution with the motto ‘We can help,”' said CPCC Presi dent Dr. Richard H. Hagemeyer. “Charlotte area citizens from all segments of society have found this to be true, and we hope they will help interest other citizens by telling their story and that of their college." ‘ Change into your beach clothes at the CPCC locker rooms and dance to the music of Stfgarcreek at# beach party on Friday, February 7. Or take the free bus from uptown to spend your lunch hour listening to a variety of musical groups at the free Thursday Recital Series sponsored by the college’s Performing Arts Department. And CPCC’s acclaimed production of the Broadway musical “A Chorus Line” returns on Fri day, February 28. “Futures begin at CPCC” is the college’s slogan for the month and will be used as graduates seek out others to join the new alumni association. Receptions for poten tial members of the organization will be held during February at each of CPCC’s learning centers. Special services which may be available to members include trips at group rates, scholarships for children of alumni, and social functions. The college will take information on its programs and innovations to the public through shopping center I ~ --- I Records & Tapes 1 "Your Uptown Record 1 331-T0T7 I Tnn f'tiart I P •s v_^ exhibits in February. Exhibits will include hands-on computer demon strations, blood pressure and other health checks, and demonstrations from the performing arts and phy sical education departments at the college. • i.! CANDY One pound assorted , chocolates. 1 POLY SILK ROSES Scented boxed or bouquet. Assorted MEN’S i TEE SHIRTS First quality printed tee shirts or assorted color cropped tee shirts. In sizes S,M,l,XL. ATHLETICS FOB THE FAMILY Compere To 14.9t. Popular hl-top and low cut styles. In assorted colors. - ■-■■■■ ■ _ ynwiiun—< My*,. OMrMH., MW W TfM*. OWW., Ml M. M-*h*m. CharlMM, IM CMnl Ay* "****"“ "*»■■ CMfMUl MM