A GUY'S VIEW

A time of reflection

This weekend Christians celebrate their most sacred holidays. Others who follow the Bible have observed the Passover and will continue to celebrate the Feast of Unleavened Bread for the rest of the week. For most of us who are of faith, this is an important period.

As a boy, Good Friday was important to me only because of kite flying. The fact that my mother insisted that I attend church for as long as she could suggests that it was important to her for other reasons.

On every Good Friday morning there was the tension between her will for me to go to church and my desire to hit the open fields to fly my kite. Her will usually won, until one day she bought my promise to fly my beautiful kite for a short while and then go to church after. That was the end of me and Good Friday service.

If we cast our minds back to the original event which Christians, Jews and other adherents to the Bible are supposed to be commemorating at this time, we are reminded of God liberating his people from Mizraim, Egypt or the land of bondage. That story underlines the power of God to give effect to his will, regardless of the human forces that say otherwise. At that time, the Pharaoh was unchallenged and considered himself to be unchallengeable. This appeared true until it was time for the true power to assert his will.

At the base of this is the need for those of us who claim to believe in YHWH to trust Him, even when there seems to be no basis for that trust. It is enough to know that you are living in His will and that He has made certain promises to those who trust Him.

With respect to trust, two things are important to remember. First, having faith does not mean that you are not required to go onto the battle field and fight. The reason why God may train your fingers to war is for you to fight. You have to fight. There are instances where divine intervention goes all the way while men are merely passengers, but this is usually when there are no options.

Secondly, never make the mistake of claiming promises that were not made to you. Some promises are specific to a person or a people. If you are not in that promised group, those promises were not made to you. Study and find out what was promised to you.

Put differently, faith was not intended to replace wisdom. As the writings attributed to the brother of Jesus explain, in rejection of the groundless, intangible faith that was promoted by another writer, faith without works is dead.

The Pharaoh ruled large for his time. And then he was no more. Egypt, the powerhouse, was diminished and moved from being the tallest tree in the Garden of Eden to a lowly existence. That tree will never be as tall as it was again. Life is mostly a cycle. Sometimes you are up and other times you are down, unless the cycle is broken and you step out of the circle. Some people rule for a time, and then they are no more. Only God
remains forever.

The power of Egypt and Syria lasted for a relatively long time, until Rome took over. Although not in the form of the single power as it once was, it may be argued that Roman power still dominates the world today and it is actively seeking to establish a new world order in which it will be the one world power again.

At the time that Jesus walked the earth, the power of Rome was stifling. Life was fantastic for Romans and their lackeys, but demeaning for all others with any sense of pride. The people of Israel reflected on the prophecies that were written and the promise of a messiah who would liberate them and rule on the throne of David. They prayed for their messiah to come and rescue them from the oppression of Rome. That never happened as they expected.

Some scholars say that what they got instead was a revolutionary who was put to death without fulfilling the kingly prophecy. In those days, claiming to be any kind of king was enough to cost one his life. The claim that Jesus was the king of the Jews was a capital offence punishable by death.

The conciliatory approach towards the oppressors of his people make scholars question whether the words attributed to him were in fact his. They have also noted the stark divergence between his teachings and the writings attributed to Paul. That is a discussion for another place, but both Jesus and Paul were observers of God’s appointed feasts and would annually be reminded of God’s power to liberate.

Rome crumbled from within. As it struggles to reform itself and continue to rule the world, there seems to be no visible path to freedom for those of a different hue. But all human power comes to an end, even when men band together to pursue their ends which are not of God.

Our country has been plunged into tough times. The path to freedom looks daunting. While a small group enjoy the benefits of their life, the story of the majority is different. So what do the suffering do? Some resort to prayer. That is good, provided that they recognise that after rising from their knees they must go onto the battle field and fight for the life they want.

Others may consider other solutions. Whatever efforts are made, it is instinctive for man to try to survive. Suicide comes only after all is lost. We should never believe that all is lost, for there is always a way out. We just have to find it.

This is the ideal time for introspection. Not for feeling sorry for ourselves, but to discover what is in us and how we may be better persons; how we may help ourselves to escape our bondage; how we may help our brother along the way. For persons of faith, the deity must play some role in that process. Others may be stronger and thus self-reliant. They may find their own path. But there is no better time than the present to check where we are and determine whether we are on the right course, as individuals and as a people.

Barbados is a tiny country, but it is bigger than any of us. Yet, it is no more than we make it to be. What kind of country do we really want to live in? Are we prepared to live a second class existence? If not, how do we change it for the better? It will not change unless we change it.

When Moses was confronted with the sea ahead and an army behind, he cried out to God. The response he got is one that we should all reflect on at this time: “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you, lift up your hand …”

What is it that you have in your hand? Cast it down and see what it becomes. It is time to use whatever is available to you and march forward into a better destiny. It is all up to you.

Barbados Advocate

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Advocate Publishers (2000) Inc
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