Beautiful Sunset

I am not sure this is the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, after all I don't live in the most scenic environment to complement, but I can tell you when I looked up from reading the other evening to another glorious sight of God's creation, my soul danced within me:

Clouds of Glory

Last night as I was riding my stationary bike and thinking about this picture, a memory came to me from about 13 years ago when I first came to Newark: walking around this block for the first time by myself, I had visions of violence and murder near this very spot. Over the years I have come to believe that it was the Lord showing me what to pray for and against: to pray against violence and murder in this area.

I was very moved in my spirit while riding my stationary bike because when I saw this sight on Sunday afternoon, I had absolutely no premonition of violence of any sort but was conscious only of glory pouring in through rays of light. Have things changed in Newark that much that the old days of fearing violence have been replaced by shades of light, a "hope and future"? Perhaps it is now, this is the time the Lord, the God of all flesh, is saying to Newark:

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Jeremiah 29:11