The Shadow
Dear Editor,
Once again, another year is almost gone and we give thanks to our Creator for the experience and bounty of this life He so mercifully has given to us.
This year has been a most devastating one. A global pandemic, COVID-19 has changed our lives in ways we could not have imagined. The year 2020 will soon be 2021; don’t let this year pass without connecting with the ones you love and cherish or with those of whom you have fond memories. Call, write a letter, email, Zoom or Facetime, because tomorrow is not promised and this pandemic is not wasting any time in claiming its victims.
Therefore, in light of these recent events the Wrightsville Renewal Festival will not celebrate its 15th year of community awareness and involvement at the end of July/August.
We hope to have some kind of celebration later in the fall, around Thanksgiving, to celebrate our community awareness and survival through this pandemic. We will keep you posted with more information later, as we move through the summer and early fall, as to when and what that celebration may be.
We also want to thank you for your contributions and support during this time. Your donations have helped keep the foundation operating during this time.
Normally, we count on festival revenue to cover our operating expenses, but without the festival this year we were unable to meet those budgetary expenses. Your early donations and contributions really saved the day. Thank you!
Also, we need your prayers, continued support and involvement in our community as we move forward in the implementation of the Wrightsville
Community Revitalization Project. Work will begin soon, this August, on infrastructure and housing in the community and we are most excited for this beginning.
Hopefully, the project will be completed by next August 2021 and the 16th annual Renewal Festival will be celebrated in true community revitalization and renewal fashion.
Do not wait until tomorrow to enjoy and appreciate all that God has given us to uphold, preserve and elucidate.
Let us cast our eyes on one another before we see no more. Let us share our stories before our tongues are silent with the praise of the afterlife. Let us hear the songs of yesterday before our ears grow deaf with the celestial harmonies of eternity. Let us feel each other’s warm embrace before the chilly shroud of night surrounds us in glory. Praise be to His glory.
Let us rejoice in the emancipation of 154 years of freedom from colonial servitude and the pursuit of happiness and equality for all people. Make this year and the coming year, the year that all of God’s children come together and celebrate in his name, as one.
For this pandemic has shown us that time and death waits for no one and is not a respecter of persons. We will endure this tribulation if we put our trust in God, be faithful and hope for a better tomorrow.
Romans 15:4 says, “For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
Be encouraged that this, too, shall pass. Be safe, be blessed and be in good spirit.
Blessings,
Wrightsville Renewal Festival Committee
The McClinton Foundation Covington
