‘WHEN I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died….’ Nothing better describes for me the period of Holy Week, than these words. There are to be certain persons who will rattle these pointed lyrics without further thought to its deeper meaning. The story of Christianity is too recent an event in human history to have been completely fabricated. This is not intended as a sermon. It is merely to ponder why so many obviously ‘good’ people remain silent in the face of that crucifixion or the one this island now suffers. The crucifixion of Saint Lucia begs many questions, ‘why nothing happens,’ is just one! Why nothing happens when men of laws rule a society and criminals walk free. Why some criminals go free whilst the innocent cower behind burglar bars and are penalized by punitive taxes, such as VAT?
These thoughts came when I was stopped this week by someone who paid a compliment. ‘Only four Saint Lucians have stood up against Prime Minister Kenny Anthony: Sarah Flood Beaubrun, Mary Isaac, Guy Joseph and you. Mr. Josie.’ On closer examination, I concluded that, his words had little to do with Kenny Anthony. These four would likely behave the same way in similar circumstances, regardless who was Prime Minister.
True grit and character are tested in adversity. Every amateur sailor can navigate calm waters. The test comes when tides, currents and harsh adverse weather conditions conspire to make him or her (and the vessel), history.
Staying with that weather metaphor stimulates other questions. What is the most adverse situation bearing down on Saint Lucia today? I answer categorically: ‘unpunished crime and the dark clouds over its police.’ The situation is worse because, ‘Nothing happens,’ and everyone knows it. ‘And nothing happens’ is therefore more than mere cliché. It is a condemnation of the Criminal Justice System!
Every civilized society is troubled when crime goes unpunished. The demand for justice runs deep even in societies once considered primitive. Victims of rape, families of murdered children, home owners who have been burgled and lost items which money can’t replace, all shout for justice. Still, nothing happens! In the face of an apparently tardy, not to say delinquent Justice System, revenge can enter the mind of a peaceful and law abiding citizen.
As we observe Holy Week and survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, we may extend our minds and ask whether there are undisclosed reasons that Jesus was plotted against and put to death. His challenge of the earlier Mosaic Law which advocated ‘an eye-for-an-eye’ was made manifest when he asked his followers ‘to turn the other cheek’ and later to ‘go and sin no more.’ Such teachings confirmed a more humane form of justice which is administered with compassion.
In keeping with the theme of the suffering of innocence on the cross, I turn to Nahum in Holy Writ, on the subject of Justice and Mercy. ‘When a defendant stands before a judge, he or she is at the mercy of the Court. If the defendant is innocent, the Court should be a refuge. But if the defendant is guilty, we expect the Court to exact punishment.’
Let me be clear, I have never been personally affected by the Justice System in Saint Lucia – or in any other country. Sure, I have been inside a Court House and I fully understand the respect and courtesies which are due, and expected, to a Court. In my youth a sitting of a Magistrate’s Court in Vieux-Fort was a really big deal. Neighbours came together and celebrated when a matter was decided in their friends favour.
I have served as a Parliamentarian in both the elected and selected chambers of the House. I remain convinced that laws are meant for the peace and good order of society even when some politicians do otherwise. I am also convinced that politics can be a force for good. But can these principles hold when so many are imprisoned without trial? Does the principle hold when the Government has a report which, if properly implement, can open-up a new window of justice, in the country?
To the practising Christian it would appear that the anti-Christ has risen to a point of power and prominence in this dear land. For proof, concerned citizens point to the attacks on the most vulnerable and innocent in the society – the youth. The anti-Christ follows children to schools’ sports and sits among them. They hug and embrace them even as they suffocate their parents with all sorts of taxes and discrimination for scarce jobs or promotions at work. They offer free this and free that, yet they refuse to pay for school transportation to get these same little ones to and from school safely. But that is not all!
From recent experiences can it be fairly asked whether Justice itself is on trial? Can justice be properly administered in the absence of adequate funding and with the right persons employed? We may boldly opine that, in this trial of the justice system, the anti-Christ tries hardest to pass their studied silence, while telling others to speak. Such conduct exposes the anti-Christ for what they truly represent. Can the average citizen not see or feel this?
One would have thought that the government would be happy to do all in its power to implement the latest report into police killings. Why is it afraid to act? Why wait for others to speak? Who is really in charge? But wait! Isn’t this the preferred way of Satan, using others to do his dirty work? Doesn’t this remind you, dear reader, of those who plotted and had Jesus crucified? They conspired to nail truth on a cross! But today, when we survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died, we know that joy will return, with a new resurrection – a new day will dawn. Only then will it be all right in the morning. Happy Easter every one and thanks for your words of encouragement.
Josie:
Many times and often, I have called upon the Lucian People to see you for what you are, a defective mutation in the great legacy of the African people. What a complete waste of taxpayers’ money was allocated to the making one of the most shameless mis-educated Negroes of our times.
You, and the weightlifter who you constantly express your unequivocal love and admiration to, are on this day walking around Castries believing that the Naked Caucasian nailed to a post is God of the Creation, who was killed and is buried under some big stones in Necodemus’ tomb.
Jesus is God ! Is your utterance – God incarnate – who committed suicide to pay the price for your sins – yes pay the ransom with the only payment Satan would accept from God; BLOOD!!
There was once no Creation; no Darkness, Light, or Space, try fitting your brain into that ? Then God/Allah originated the Creation from nothingness and the Creation has been expanding ever since. The Elements that makeup the human being are first created in the bowels of created objects called stars and at the time of death of these creatures they Explode with such violence that the iron and oxygen in our bodies today is scattered light-years across another creature called Galaxy, and in our case reassembled to form our Solar System.
This God who committed suicide, has placed one of these creatures 93,000,000 miles from our home, and we feel the heat of this Sun, and you should know that we are fed by the photosynthesis utilized in agriculture from this creature/created thing.
This God not only placed the Sun in our Solar System, but created billions of such created entities in what is called the local Galaxy/Milky way. But wait/weight, Mass ? If we collected all the Planets and other bodies in our Solar System including all asteroids and dwarf planets – thousands like Pluto, the mass of these objects would be less than one percent of the mass of Sun; one cent in the dollar. The other 99 cents is contained in the star called Sun.
Yes Allah created billions of stars in the Milky Way and each star has several planets and these planets are filled with gold and silver and life we cannot imagine. Still not enough Allah created billions of Galaxies. Yet this God had to come to Earth to be crucified naked ? and you think I can give you and the weightlifter a micro gram of credibility ? You are an insane and demented fraudster, telling people that God was killed on Good Friday – a shameless Negro Slave wanting to put Lucians back into slavery.
Ah, the pipe pipers. You and Rick John Wayne, want to call yourselves Romans, we will not stop you, but please stop fooling the people with these horrific lies by telling them God killed himself to show us how much he loved us. Now since you and John Wayne love this country so much, why don’t you kill yourselves like God did? I promise you two idiots we will make saints of you and like Compton we will erect statues of you in Choc Cemetery. Personally, I think hanging by the neck will be a better image than the crossed posts – here’s a piece of rope and that big tree on the square would be a spectacular setting for you two Roman Catholics to kill yourselves to save not the world, but Saint Lucia. How about it, the belfry is right there? then when you resurrect after three days you can be the “Prince of glory”.
Surah Al-Mulk
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Blessed is He in Whose hand is the Sovereignty, and, He is Able to do all things. (1)
Who hath created life and death that He may try you which of you is best in conduct; and He is the Mighty, the Forgiving, (2)
Who hath created seven heavens in harmony. Thou (Muhammad) canst see no fault in the Beneficent One’s creation; then look again: Canst thou see any rifts? (3)
Then look again and yet again, thy sight will return unto thee weakened and made dim. (4)
And verily We have beautified the world’s heaven with lamps, and We have made them missiles for the devils, and for them We have prepared the doom of flame. (5)
And for those who disbelieve in their Lord there is the doom of hell, a hapless journey’s end! (6)
When they are flung therein they hear its roaring as it boileth up, (7)
As it would burst with rage. Whenever a (fresh) host is flung therein the wardens thereof ask them: Came there unto you no warner? (8)
They say: Yea, verily, a warner came unto us; but we denied and said: Allah hath naught revealed; ye are in naught but a great error. (9)
And they say: Had we been wont to listen or have sense, we had not been among the dwellers in the flames. (10)
So they acknowledge their sins; but far removed (from mercy) are the dwellers in the flames. (11)
Lo! those who fear their Lord in secret, theirs will be forgiveness and a great reward. (12)
And keep your opinion secret or proclaim it, lo! He is Knower of all that is in the breasts (of men). (13)
Should He not know what He created? And He is the Subtile, the Aware. (14)
He it is Who hath made the earth subservient unto you, so Walk in the paths thereof and eat of His providence. And unto Him will be the resurrection (of the dead). (15)
Have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not cause the earth to swallow you when lo! it is convulsed? (16)
Or have ye taken security from Him Who is in the heaven that He will not let loose on you a hurricane? But ye shall know the manner of My warning. (17)
And verily those before them denied, then (see) the manner of My wrath (with them)! (18)
Have they not seen the birds above them spreading out their wings and closing them? Naught upholdeth them save the Beneficent. Lo! He is Seer of all things. (19)
Or who is he that will be an army unto you to help you instead of the Beneficent? The disbelievers are in naught but illusion. (20)
Or who is he that will provide for you if He should withhold His providence? Nay, but they are set in pride and frowardness. (21)
Is he who goeth groping on his face more rightly guided, or he who walketh upright on a straight road? (22)
Say (unto them, O Muhammad): He it is who gave you being, and hath assigned unto you ears and eyes and hearts. Small thanks give ye! (23)
Say: He it is Who multiplieth you in the earth, and unto Whom ye will be gathered. (24)
And they say: When (will) this promise (be fulfilled), if ye are truthful? (25)
Say: The knowledge is with Allah only, and I am but a plain warner; (26)
But when they see it nigh, the faces of those who disbelieve will be awry, and it will be said (unto them): This is that for which ye used to call. (27)
Say (O Muhammad): Have ye thought: Whether Allah causeth me (Muhammad) and those with me to perish or hath mercy on us, still, who will protect the disbelievers from a painful doom? (28)
Say: He is the Beneficent. In Him we believe and in Him we put our trust. And ye will soon know who it is that is in error manifest. (29)
Say: Have ye thought: If (all) your water were to disappear into the earth, who then could bring you gushing water? (30)
Josie: The Spanish Inquisition would do you worse than was done to Joan of Arc. Using the words and actions to weave into political salesmanship is BLASPHEMY: Your feigned juxtaposition is like the tight horse hair Korean weaves sported by too many of our females..
You mimic exactly what the Anti christ does in many churches today. He/she weaves some semblance of biblical notation to justify that which He/She concocts /connives for us to see or feel
Blasphemy was powerfully eradicated by the Spanish Inquisition because heresy was akin to lying. And so the saying goes liars and killers are flip sides of the same coin
You should have chosen the more verdant path of a sermon for this essay. Here is a choice topic your essay missed in its coverage of the event being celebrated:
Why did the Bible choose to highlight that the Masses Chose Barabas (known criminal) over Jesus (known do gooder).
One theologian has estimated (hypothetically) that there were significantly few people SAVED while jesus walked the planet demonstrating miracles etc. than after when secondary sources became christian orthodoxy.
Anyhow, we can all agree that we live in the age of the Anti-Christ and beware of those who are most vociferous in proclaiming its existence and especially those that point fingers –
like the great WW 11 battles and even those of antiquity a misdirection or distraction skirmish to draw attention from the target -always preceded the main battle.
The SEALS GREEN BERETS and ROYAL COMMANDOS are all masters in the art of DIVERSIONARY tactics.
Malheuresement, your use of scriptures to offend politically is far worse than the sin committed by Pontius Pilate-
-at least he was trying to strike a balance between Roman Law-Paganism and the Local Power broker Philistines.
Most of the Elements used to construct our bodies are created in distant Space – Carbon, Oxygen etc. Take Oxygen as an example, it is created in a distant star during the life and death cycle of this celestial body. Our star, Sun is NOT a “BIG” Star, only of medium size with a diameter of 864,900 miles. Earth by comparison has a radius of 3,959 miles and a diameter of less than 8,000 miles. So we know that the circumference of Earth at its Equator is π × diameter = 24,860 miles.
It is interesting to note that we in the Caribbean travel at a velocity of some 1033 miles per hour to complete this revolution of a 24 hour day – every day we travel 24, 860 miles and most of us never notice. Allah is Akbar/ (Greatest).
But when stars are first ignited in the process of Nuclear Fusion, it fuses/joins Hydrogen atoms to produce Helium – this is what is taking place in our Sun today. Some time in the near future the Sun will deplete its supply of Hydrogen and will fuse Helium to produce Carbon. This phase of the life cycle of the Sun will cause it to expand engulfing the Earth in the actual fire of the Sun; this stage is known as the Red Giant. So Allah tells us in the Quran:
Surah Al-Kahf
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Praise be to Allah Who hath revealed the Scripture unto His slave, and hath not placed therein any crookedness, (1)
(But hath made it) straight, to give warning of stern punishment from Him, and to bring unto the believers who do good works the news that theirs will be a fair reward, (2)
Wherein they will abide for ever; (3)
And to warn those who say: Allah hath chosen a son, (4)
(A thing) whereof they have no knowledge, nor (had) their fathers, Dreadful is the word that cometh out of their mouths. They speak naught but a lie. (5)
Yet it may be, if they believe not in this statement, that thou (Muhammad) wilt torment thy soul with grief over their footsteps. (6)
Lo! We have placed all that is in the earth as an ornament thereof that We may try them: which of them is best in conduct. (7)
And lo! We shall make all that is therein a barren mound. (8)
As the Star depletes its supply of helium it begins to burn Carbon to produce Oxygen and that process continues until the most powerful cataclysmic explosion called Super Nova occurs. This explosion scatters the elements the our bodies are made from across Light Years of Space and will form new Planets and life forms – Why do you think the Elements of Gold and Silver are so precious ? the answer ? we cannot manufacture these elements – they are made in Stars.
I have included a video which I think will help you understand God/Allah, who is not a man or woman or nothing in Creation, stone or Spirit – God/Allah is Unique. There is nothing that God can be compared to, and don’t repeat the lie that God Created Man in his own Image – it’s a BIG LIE.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuXPAQOLato
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What a load of nonsense! God did create man in his image! its no lie! but you are right that God is Unique!
God= the heavenly Father, jesus Christ, Holy Spirit – holy trinity!
God and Idols
10:12-16pp — Jer 51:15-19
1 Hear what the LORD says to you, O house of Israel.
2 This is what the LORD says: “Do not learn the ways of the nations or be terrified by signs in the sky, though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the customs of the peoples are worthless; they cut a tree out of the forest, and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a melon patch, their idols cannot speak; they must be carried because they cannot walk. Do not fear them; they can do no harm nor can they do any good.”
6 No one is like you, O LORD; you are great, and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not revere you, O King of the nations? This is your due. Among all the wise men of the nations and in all their kingdoms, there is no one like you.
8 They are all senseless and foolish; they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish and gold from Uphaz. What the craftsman and goldsmith have made is then dressed in blue and purple– all made by skilled workers.
10 But the LORD is the true God; he is the living God, the eternal King. When he is angry, the earth trembles; the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’ ”
12 But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar; he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge; every goldsmith is shamed by his idols. His images are a fraud; they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery; when their judgment comes, they will perish.
Holyone, Why don’t you read the Qur-an so you will save yourself from the Great destruction ?? here’s the link: http://www.quranexplorer.com/Default.aspx
Surah Al-Rad/The Thunder
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
Alif. Lam. Mim. Ra. These are verses of the Scripture. That which is revealed unto thee from thy Lord is the Truth, but most of mankind believe not. (1)
Allah it is Who raised up the heavens without visible supports, then mounted the Throne, and compelled the sun and the moon to be of service, each runneth unto an appointed term; He ordereth the course; He detaileth the revelations, that haply ye may be certain of the meeting with your Lord. (2)
And He it is Who spread out the earth and placed therein firm hills and flowing streams, and of all fruits He placed therein two spouses (male and female). He covereth the night with the day. Lo! herein verily are portents for people who take thought. (3)
And in the Earth are neighbouring tracts, vineyards and ploughed lands, and date-palms, like and unlike, which are watered with one water. And we have made some of them to excel others in fruit. Lo! herein verily are portents for people who have sense. (4)
And if thou wonderest, then wondrous is their saying: When we are dust, are we then forsooth (to be raised) in a new creation? Such are they who disbelieve in their Lord; such have carcans on their necks; such are rightful owners of the Fire, they will abide therein. (5)
And they bid thee hasten on the evil rather than the good, when exemplary punishments have indeed occurred before them. But lo! thy Lord is rich in pardon for mankind despite their wrong, and lo! thy Lord is strong in punishment. (6)
Those who disbelieve say: If only some portent were sent down upon him from his Lord! Thou art a warner only, and for every folk a guide. (7)
Allah knoweth that which every female beareth and that which the wombs absorb and that which they grow. And everything with Him is measured. (8)
He is the Knower of the Invisible and the Visible, the Great, the High Exalted. (9)
Alike of you is he who hideth the saying and he who noiseth it abroad, he who lurketh in the night and he who goeth freely in the daytime. (10)
For him are angels ranged before him and behind him, who guard him by Allah’s command. Lo! Allah changeth not the condition of a folk until they (first) change that which is in their hearts; and if Allah willeth misfortune for a folk there is none that can repel it, nor have they a defender beside Him. (11)
He it is Who showeth you the lightning, a fear and a hope, and raiseth the heavy clouds. (12)
The thunder hymneth His praise and (so do) the angels for awe of Him. He launcheth the thunder-bolts and smiteth with them whom He will while they dispute (in doubt) concerning Allah, and He is mighty in wrath. (13)
Unto Him is the real prayer. Those unto whom they pray beside Allah respond to them not at all, save as (is the response to) one who stretcheth forth his hands towards water (asking) that it may come unto his mouth, and it will never reach it. The prayer of disbelievers goeth (far) astray. (14)
And unto Allah falleth prostrate whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, as do their shadows in the morning and the evening hours. (15)
Say (O Muhammad): Who is Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Say: Take ye then (others) beside Him for protectors, which, even for themselves, have neither benefit nor hurt? Say: Is the blind man equal to the seer, or is darkness equal to light? Or assign they unto Allah partners who created the like of His creation so that the creation (which they made and His creation) seemed alike to them? Say: Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Almighty. (16)
He sendeth down water from the sky, so that valleys flow according to their measure, and the flood beareth (on its surface) swelling foam – from that which they smelt in the fire in order to make ornaments and tools riseth a foam like unto it – thus Allah coineth (the similitude of) the true and the false. Then, as for the foam, it passeth away as scum upon the banks, while, as for that which is of use to mankind, it remaineth in the earth. Thus Allah coineth the similitudes. (17)
For those who answered Allah’s call is bliss; and for those who answered not His call, if they had all that is in the earth, and therewith the like thereof, they would proffer it as ransom. Such will have a woeful reckoning, and their habitation will be hell, a dire abode. (18
Why would I read something that is untrue!
It says in the bible ‘If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me!’ – this is so true that I know personally that God is Real! the holy trinity is real!
U will find this out too if you search!