Becoming one nation out of many people
THE OFT-REPEATED phrase of confidence in the Hebrew Scriptures is that God chose Israel as His inheritance. The intimacy of that statement can be understood only if we look at the experience of Israel in slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and how God delivered them through the instrumentality of Moses. Although Moses felt incapable of meeting the challenge to liberate the people from the hands of Pharaoh, God put His faith in him when He called Moses into a seemingly impossible task.
God also put His faith in our Jamaican freedom fighters because wherever the cause of freedom is required, God, the Great Liberator and Deliverer, is present. In our journey from slavery and indentureship to freedom, and subsequent independence, our heroic freedom fighters – Paul Bogle, William Gordon, Nanny of the Maroons, and Sam Sharpe – unselfishly sacrificed their lives for the life of the many. They sacrificed their lives in virtue of the faith they had in a God who is known for leading His people of old. Just as they had faith in God, our God had faith in them too.
EMANCIPATION
Standing on the shoulders of those who have fought bravely for our emancipation, we should be better able to see the possibilities of far better days. However, looking at where our beautiful land we love is today, we can only admit that west and on those shoulders in admiration but without accomplishing the task that they began with the strength of the Almighty. Why just admiration? Because we only embrace one aspect of faith: to have faith in God. Faced with difficulties, we blithely mouth, “God will provide” because we sincerely think that we are people of faith. With only that aspect of faith, we will be forever expecting others to do things for us. Is not this a carryover from slavery when “Massa” alone had the answer for the slaves?
We fail to grasp the important theological fact that God has placed His faith in humans to carry on His work that includes true emancipation and independence. The Psalmist jogs our memory to show that God does have faith in mankind:
“You (God) made him (humans) a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honour. You made him rule over the works of your hand; you have put all things under his feet”(Ps. 8:6-7). The Psalmist reminds us that we are collaborators with God who empowers us to govern ourselves.
Only when we begin to grasp this aspect of faith – that God has faith in the people and that He equips them for the task of true emancipation and independence – will we begin to take full control of our own destiny. Until then, we will forever wait for others to do for us what we ourselves can and must do. This requires discipline, unselfish behaviour, and love for our fellowmen and women. It is then that we will stop thinking that foreign is better than local; we will begin to see growth in productivity. We will be bold enough to bell the cat of criminality and corruption. We will do away with the code of silence and become forthright in exposing and fixing the weakness of our political system that tolerates antisocial behaviour, which stifles or hinders the common good.We will stop mimicking others and see the beauty of our kaleidoscopic makeup: our colour (without bleaching); the texture of our respective skin and hair (without expensive weaves); and the beautiful effects of attractive intermingling of our people (without prejudice). As a matter of fact, when we accept ourselves as being graced by God, we will also begin to appreciate differences in others, to show genuine love, and be willing to forgive as our Heavenly Father forgives us every day. We will truly become one nation out of many people.