| Rainbows of diversity offer signs of hope I saw a rainbow from my apartment balcony one evening in early June. It cast a long iridescent arc through the sky, offering respite from numbing gray skies and daily downpours. I grabbed my camera to photograph it. Perhaps it was a timely sign of hope as I looked forward a bit anxiously to two coincidental upcoming events: my next birthday on Friday the 13th and the 219th session of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference. Weeks later, I photographed another rainbow. It appeared on the Renaissance Hotel ballroom stage after the close of Annual Conference. That sign of hope was the colorful delegation elected to represent us at the denominations General and Northeastern Jurisdictional conferences in 2004. I heard complaints about the political maneuvering that helped produce this diverse assemblage. And I dont know if the phenomenally moving Saturday Bible study and worship service that focused on racial repentance and healing affected the outcome, or if it will affect the delegates when they act upon church legislation next year. Maybe Human Mosaic trainings, racial dialogues using the Steps Toward Wholeness: Learning and Repentance study gbwc_superusere and similar events will influence individuals and churches throughout the conference. Maybe not. After all, they are just events, right? Or maybe, theyre actually rainbows. Ive witnessed and often videotaped some soul-stirring, conviction-filled events hosted by this conference during my first year: the Shalom Summit and Multi-Ethnic Center Convocation, ROCK, Leadership Days, Evangelism Is a Verb, AIDS and the Black Church, Saving Stations, and yes, Annual Conference. There are many others that I missed. But the possibility the hope for each event is that something will happen, and keep on happening, somewhere, sometime, through somebody, in some way that ignites grace and makes a lasting, redemptive difference in peoples lives and in their churches and communities. Reminders of that hope came to me several times in the afterglow of Annual Conference. I viewed the provocative, three-part PBS television program, This Far by Faith, which spread before me a rich tapestry of the black churchs historic role in the development of African-American life and culture. The heroes portrayed in that cloud of witnesses were upheld by their faith and conviction, as they braved unimaginable racial oppression to survive and contribute to the progress of their people and this nation. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly ruled in favor of the University of Michigans non-quota affirmative action policy to achieve student diversity in its law school. But the court rejected the universitys use of a preferential points system for achieving the same goal in its undergraduate school. What remains is at least temporary support for the principle of affirmative action as long as it is enacted through a fair, non-mechanistic consideration of individual applicants. What also remains is recognition by the court and by enlightened colleges and universities that racial and cultural diversity is beneficial to all, especially in settings where people are learning about the world in which they live. Notwithstanding some errant malcontents, maybe the rest of us get it. Maybe we finally understand that diversity benefits not only those who offer it by their presence and participation and even more by their empowerment and influence when that is allowed. It also benefits majority groups, institutions and, ultimately, the society in which those institutions exist. In the big picture, everybody wins and everybody has a chance to experience growth and transformation. Such transformation will likely happen to many who encounter rainbows of diversity while participating in outreach ministries of our conference during this busy summer. Opportunities include Saving Stations, camping adventures, VIM mission trips, new ministries to serve growing Hispanic communities, and the expanding Justice for Our Neighbors project, which enlists attorneys and volunteers to offer legal assistance and hospitality to immigrants from various countries. Rainbows appear when sunlight penetrates thick, gray, rainy skies and is refracted and dispersed into a spectrum of luminous colors. Maybe thats what makes them signs of hope. I rarely see rainbows in the sky; but I see them often at ground level, where they matter most. Thats where we live out Gods covenant with us, and our covenant with one another, to shine colorful light into the dreary, confounded politics that encumber us and to recreate our lives in order to make this world anew. It is where we promise to do away with the things of old and forge a beloved community of reconciliation and respect for the rich diversity of all Gods people. Those are promises worth keeping and rainbows worth capturing for a lifetime. | 
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