Prepare Ye the Way
The Bahama Journal Editorial
Nassau, Bahamas



We here at JCN commiserate with those who mourn.

And for sure, we wish all and sundry the happiest and most blessed of times as they gear up to celebrate the birth of the Christ-child.

But even as we say what we are obliged to say in this supposedly happiest of season, we are painfully aware of the reality that, this year has been a time of great distress and sorrow for so very many Bahamians.

Evidently, since such words can only do so much to soothe such mournful souls; we encourage all who would hear and know, that they should pick themselves up, move forward in a spirit of love and with a mind prepared to help the neediest in our midst.

Here take note – for emphasis- that we are also quite convinced that – as Christians- we should all do more and can do more –in emulation and imitation of Jesus Christ – to help those who need help.

And as the prophet Micah puts it: we are called to walk humbly, love God and do justice; and as one songster puts the matter: “…And though these are days of great trials, of famine and darkness and sword; still we are the voice in the desert crying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord!

Behold He comes! Riding on the clouds! Shining like the sun! At the trumpet call, lift your voice! It's the year of Jubilee! And out of Zion's hill salvation comes!”

And so, no matter the fact that these times are such that people everywhere are troubled to no end, or that they are experiencing what seems to be some of their darkest times, the Christian knows that the darkest hour is precisely that instant that precedes dawn.

The Christian also knows – with a certainty that passes understanding – that even though weeping may endure for a long night, joy comes in the morning.

It is therefore on this note – and in these days of Elijah – that we join in with all those other men and women of faith and goodwill who know that these hard times must be.

Having come to maturity in a time when the living was made easy in the Bahamas, there are very many Bahamians who are today hoping and praying that those halcyon days would soon return.

When you talk to some of these people [some of whom once worked in the tourist sector] you might probably come away with the clear suggestion that they are in denial.

A similar sentiment pervades the minds of some who now lead, whether on the governing side or in the ranks of the loyal opposition; the fact of the matter is that very many of these people are waiting for things to return to normal.

We suspect that things will be ‘tight’.

As a consequence, Bahamians –especially those who say that they are Christians should expect it when they are called upon to come to the aid of the stranger in their midst.

And for sure, when we reference ‘the stranger in our midst’ the person in question can be friend, enemy, neighbor, family member or a person born and bred elsewhere.

In the ultimate analysis, we are called to care for such persons as we care for ourselves. And so today, we continue to tarry –as it were – while we ritualistically and symbolically - wait like other Christians for the now-ritualized coming of a very special Child.

He is that very same Child who was fated to become that man who was scheduled to be acquainted with grief and that king who was fated to come in the guise of a suffering servant.

This same brother to each of us – and God’s only begotten son - was fated to be denied, betrayed, deserted –and thereafter murdered by the authorities of those times in which he lived. And so, the people are gearing up for their enjoyment of a unique celebration, the arrival of a king.

But even as they make preparations to receive the Holy One, they do so in a bitter-sweet kind of way; these because they know that the arrival that is epitomized with worship-Him ends with crucify-Him.

So it is – even now- as Innocence is slaughtered in today’s Bahamas.

Here we are reminding ourselves of the fact that each person murdered is some mother’s child and [just perhaps] some father’s special joy.

With scores of men, women and children maimed or murdered this past year; there are obviously untold numbers of Bahamians who are chilled to the bone in distress as they too try to celebrate Christmas in a manner befitting the prophesied arrival of a King.

As it has always been, so it remains, we have to deal with the bitter and the sweet – as each comes and as they are both commingled.

December 1st, 2010

The Bahama Journal Editorial