Newspapers / The Future Outlook (Greensboro, … / April 17, 1970, edition 1 / Page 2
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THE FUTURE OUTLOOK J. F. JOHNSON Editor & Publisher MISS EMMA P. JOHNSON News Reporter L. A. WISE Staff Photographer Make all checks payable to and mail to: THE FUTURE OUTLOOK P. 0. BOX 20331? GREENSBORO, N. C. 27420 PHONE 273-1758 Second Class Postage Paid at Greensboro, N. C. 10e Per Copy Published Weekly $6.00 Per Year Mrs ? King Mourns Death of Rosena J. Willis "The death of Mrs. Rosena J. Willis on March 30 has resulted in a severe loss to the National Education Assoc iation and to the black community," Samuel B. Etheridge, NEA assistant executive secretary for teacher rights, said today. "Her unexpected death has also created a painful vacuum in the civil and human rights programs for children and educators for which she determinedly worked." Mrs. Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. j said in a telegram to Mrs. Willis' mother, Mrs. Maggie Anderson: "My staff joins me in this expression of heartfelt sympathy. We share your grief, for Mrs. Willis' dedication indicated her respect for our common cause and we are grateful. We assure you that her efforts will be continued, and we hope that our endeavors will be a fitting tribute to her and all others who have sacrificed their time and energy. Our prayer is that God will assuage your grief and grant you strength." Mrs. Willis, 43, coordinator for intergroup relations for the NEA's Center for Human Relations, spent her last hours doing what she had done since 1966 when she joined NEA ? coordinating and designing programs to honor those who honor human dignity, in this case those men and women who will receive recognition at the Hu man Rights Awards dinner to be featured at the NEA annual convention in San Francisco this July. "Her title, coordinator for intergroup relations, did little to indicate the amount of labor and love she put into her duties." Ethridge said. "Her job required, and receiv ed, intense concentration, creativity, and complete sensi tivity to the multi-faceted problems of education in to day's rural, urban, and suburban areas. She stood up to the task of coordinating and designing programs for the fledgling Center for Human Relations during a difficult time of restructuring of the NEA and more recently through drastic changes in tohe White House and. on Capitol Hill." Sam M. Lambert, executive secretary of the million member NEA, was among those who attended a memorial service for Mrs. Willis on April 2. "As one who not only worked with Rosena, but counted her as a close personal friend, I will feel her loss keenly. I know that I express the sentiments of the entire staff who liked and highly respected this lady," Dr. Lambert said. J. Rupert Picott, nationtl president of the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, and assistant director of the NEA's Membership Development Section, noted that "A large share of the national promotion for Negro History Week was due to Mrs. Willis' efforts. Through her some 9,000 local associations were encour aged to observe this national week of recognition of the contributions of black Americans to this country and to the world. Because of her concern, millions of children, black, white, red, yellow and brown, could pause for a mo ment and focus their attention on the inherent dignity and worth of all men and women." Dr. Picott and Mrs. Willis were co-workers at the Virginia Teachers Associa tion for 10 years. In addition to working closely with the Center's In ternal Council, composed of unit heads representing all of the NEA's divisions and affiliated departments, Mrs. Willis represented NEA at meetings of such major civil and human rights organizations as the Afro-American Educators, the Urban League, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. A week before her death she had coordinated a regional workshop on student unrest, a meeting cosponsored by the NEA, the Parent- Teachers Association and the National Council of Christians and Jews. Student unrest was of porticular concern to her. Last October she designed and coordinated a week-long conference on the subject in collaboration with the Com munity Relations Service. One of the first, and one of the last, things she did was to initiate bibliographies on textbooks and other in structional materials having to do with the treatment of minorities. One hundred thousand copies of 'The Negro American in Paperback," a bibliography of several hun This W ee\'s Sunday School Lesson GOOD NEWS FOR ALL BEGINNING WHERE YOU ARE Some years ago a network ra dio newscaster would at times preface his daily report, "Oh, there's good news tonight!' What would you consider "good news"? What repoit over radio or tele vision would send you to the phone to share that news with your family, and friends? I am not tliinhing of personal news, like the recovery of a sick loved one or a much desired business or professional advancement. What would you consider good news for the whole world? Would the triumph of your candidate in a close election fill you with joy? Suppose news came that Russia, China, and the United States had settled their differences. What if the great powers agreed to convert all atomic armaments to the uses of peace? Would you con sider any of these events cause for great rejoicing? Suppose you were burdened with intense feelings of guilt and failure and were obsessed with fear of God's punishment. And suppose someone you trusted told you that you were forgiven, that God had al ready done what was necessary to restore you, that all you had to do was accept the fact of his love. Would this be good j news? Further, suppose you learned that this release was available not only to you but to everyone in the world. Would this strike you as news you ought to share with friends who were in the same condition as you? This was precisely the gos pel (that is, the "good news") that the early Christians spread to burdened and hopeless peo ple around the Roman Empire. The gods these people knew demanded labors, sacrifices, and gifts from their worship ers. They were selfish and jeal ous gods, each striving to ad vance his own glory. Or, worse, there seemed to be no gods at all, and life was a dull routine ending in oblivion. To all these pople the Christian faith was good news. SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES The Scripture for this lesson is Galatians 3. Selected verses are printed below. Galatians 3:7-14, 26-29 7 So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would jus tify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel before hand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed." 9 So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who liad faith. 10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, "Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them." 11 Now it is evident that no man is justified before God Ijy the law; for "He who through faith is righteous shall live"; 12 but the law does not rest on faith, for "He who does them shall live by them." 12 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us ? for it is written, "Curs ed be every one who hangs on a tree"? 14 that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Sprit through faith. 26 For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29. And if you are Christ's then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs accordng to promise. Memory Selection: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ? Galatians 3:28 EXPLORING THE QUESTIONS The unit beginning with this lesson will examine the story in Acts of the way the new faith reached out from Jeru salem to Samaria, into ' Asia Minor, and finally into Europe. However, in this first lesson we turn from Acts to Galatians to try to understand the nature of the gospel the Christiana proclaimed. Galatians is a letter of con troversy, written in the heat of the first conflict that rock ed, and might have wrecked, the young church. Here, as no where else, Paul reveals the passionate concern and deep dred books for secondary schools, were sold the first year I Mrs. Willis joined the NEA staff. A native of Virginia, she attended school in Rich- | mond, received her B.S. degree from Bluefield State Col lege in West Virginia, and her MA. degree from North western University, Evanston, 111. A teacher in Bromwell, W. Va., she later taught in Prince Edward County, Va., where she became one of the original educators displaced when the county discontinued public education rather than desegregate, as ordered by the U. S. Supreme Court in 1954. The Prince Edward situation was publicized throughout the nation. Active in educational affairs for many years, Mrs. Willis was secretary of the Rramwell teachers association and local association president in Prince Edward County. She also served for 10 years as field secretary for the Virginia Teachers Association. "In death as in Life," Ethridge said, "Mrs. Willis primary concern was for her fellow human beings. She devoted a great deal of time to the Martin Luther King, Jr. Foundation. Her family has asked that donations in memory of Mrs. Willis be sent to that foundation in care of the Center for Human Relations. The Center is at the National Education Association; 1201 16th Street, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20086. conviction of his nature. On an early missionary jour ney Paul had founded a church or churches in the re gion of Galatia. The Galatian converts were gentiles; and j Paul did not require them to ! submit to the Jewish rite of j circumcision or to obey Jewish dietary laws. They were ex pected to 'acknowledge Jesus as Lord, to be baptized in his name, and to live lives of moral puri |ty. I Paul himself, a strict ortho | dox Jew in his youth, had tried I without success to find inner j peace through rigorous observ ance of all the laws. Therefore, at the heart of his message Paul preached that men were saved not by legalism but by the grace of God received through faith in Jesus Christ. FINDING HELP WITH YOUR QUESTIONS Basic to Paul's thought are three great convictions which underlie Galatians. 1. In the gift of Jesus Christ, God has done what is necessary to free us from slavery to sin and death. 2. Men cannot earn this gift by their good deeds; it is re ceived by faith. 3. This salvation is not the possession of a favored few; it is available to all men. Let us look briefly at each of these assertions. I 1. The Crucifixion and Resur rection were for Paul the cen tral facts of salvation. He re ferred to these events in his salutation. He declared that in his sermons to the Galatians he had "portrayed" Christ as cru cified and that he would glory in nothing except the cross of Christ. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul did not discuss the way the cross brings about salvation. We have read Romans for a fuller development of his ideas. He did suggest that by accept ing the curse of crucifixion Christ lifts the curse of the law from us. By his obedient death and glorious resurrection,, Christ has freed us from the claims of sin and the grave. 2. But how is this benefit to be claimed? All religions in the time of Paul assumed that man had to earn Gods favor by ar duous labors, good deeds, and sacrifices. Judaism, the highest religion of the empire, held that men were dedicated to God and marked as his by circumcision and that they earned his favor by obeying both the moral law of good deeds and the ceremo nial law of dietary and cleans ing regulations. As we , have seen, the occasion for writing the Letter ? to the Galatians arose from the demand that gentile Christians observe these legalisms. Paul's new insight was revo lutionary: pod did not want to be propitiated or cajoled; he wanted to be loved. God's favor did not have to be earn ed; he already loved men and desired to give them every food gilt. Crucial to Pauls argument was the realization that 11 ac ceptance by God depended up on our reaching moral and le gal perfection, we would all be doomed. Paul had tried this (Centlauad en Pace I)
The Future Outlook (Greensboro, N.C.)
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