We missed de boat again

Among de many translations of Verse 14 in Second Chronicles chapter 7, ah love de one dat ah came across in de “Douay-Rheims (Catholic) Bible.” De chapter itself speaks about an encounter dat de great King Solomon had wid de Lord. Solomon, in an effort to mek right wid God, had successfully completed de Lord’s Temple and de Royal Palace.{{more}}

On dat night, de Lord informed Solomon that He had heard his prayer and had approved the structure for Himself as a temple for sacrifices. But de verse ah talking bout says: “And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.” De story is dat God’s people were bringing ah lot ah problems on dem-selves, Sin! So Solomon de great leader, in all his wisdom, went to God in Prayer.

In ah similar way, last Sunday night de Human Rights Association (HRA) hosted ah “Prayer Rally” at Clare Valley. De crowd was small; but even smaller was de number of Pastors who ” did promise to came but never put ah feet!” Could their reason be de same as de Pry-Minister’s, who clearly dealt wid de messenger, de HRA and not de message. Or maybe, just maybe some ah de Pastors were afraid.

Ah wrote on more dan one occasion, dat dis once blessed nation of ours, has gone astray, we have become trapped like de rest ah de world, paying foh all ah we sin-full act-shuns. People here from captain to cook committing all manner of crime and wickedness: “Murder, Rape! Forgery! Teef! Hate! Victim-I-say-shun! Drugs Trafficking! Forgery and Rape sorry, ah men-shun dem already,” but only one set ah people, de poor getting punished. Those in society seem to get de benefit of de law! It is all back-firing!

Over de last two Sundays our Pastor Isaacs has been asking us to pray, because dey was going to be ah serious accident. I have no “eyes of faith” to see things of de future; I simply following de letters in de Good Book, and ah hasten to say dat dis Curse, dis pattern of frequent disaster we experiencing in SVG, is not going to be lifted dat easily. King David and his son Solomon recognized dat de nation, including dem as leaders, had sinned. In order to get God to listen to their prayers; dey went down in sack-cloth and ashes.

Now when He became pleased wid Solomon’s plea foh forgiveness, He listed in dat fear-most Verse, His conditions foh answering prayers and lifting curse: “Becoming Converted! Humbling or making Supplication! Seeking Him! Doing Penance foh our most wicked ways!” So ah expecting our leader who once fancied his die-nasty with dat of King David and his son Solomon, to start de bawl rolling in SVG.

SHAME ON YUH API

Every way ah tun people crying shame on de Agency foh Public Information (API) foh, de buy-us way de lady conducted de interviews at de scene ah de fatal accident, de national disaster dat took place at Rock Gutter last Monday. Lie-Za say is better dey revert to de original name GIS as in Gonsalves Information Service.

It was sickening to watch how ah trained Journalist was able to man-over de microphone from Pry-minister to minister after minister of Go-venom-ment, six in a row; and not ah comment was sought from any of de several members of de opposition Parliamentarians, standing right in front of her. Lie-Za noticed dat de PM was right dey on camera next to each minister as s/he spoke, wondah if de API could ah bin intimated, remember Arm-in not suppose to look like prime minister material.

Come to think dat Gonsalves and Eustace arrived on de scene of de accident early and within minutes of each other. During de filming dey was ah lovely “Kodak Moment” in de back-ground, wid Senator Camillo’s arm around Senator Vinny Frederick, dat alone should ah bin ah hint of “to-get-her now” to de API team of trained Journalists.

When national disasters like de 2013 Floods at Buccament and de Accident at Rock Gutter last Monday strike, it is ah wake up call foh us to “turn from our wicked ways,” ah time foh us ah divided people, to unite and draw closer to God. Dat interview was ah display of contempt, it defied an opportunity to start ah process of healing. But we missed de boat again.

Tears ran down my cheek foh de grief stricken community of Fancy. De loss of seven youngsters in secondary school, has serious implication foh dis small, disadvantaged community. We must pick up de pieces and move on wid greater caution. Owners of passenger van must be vigilant wid de maintenance of dey vehicles, ah speaking in general and not targeting de vehicle in de accident. Constant checks on tryes, wheels, brakes, steering are ah necessity. Ah number of Van drivers drive much too fast on our narrow, winding roads, packed wid pot holes. And de loud music, dirty lyrics not conducive to ah peaceful day in de classroom. We have wuk to do. And wid dat is gone ah gone again.

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.