The Tribune

By Bishop Simeon B Hall

AS WE celebrate our nation’s 41st Independence I call on all of us to review our faith in Almighty God and each Bahamian must continue to have faith in his or herself.

The road to Independence was paved by sacrifices, determination and unshakable sense of pride and self-confidence, their personal short comings notwithstanding.

We must not allow the current multitude of challenges we face as a people to dilute our faith in our God our confidence in ourselves to waiver.

Scripture reminds us “let the weak say I am strong, and let the poor say I am rich.”

I do not wish on any level to placate the many social, political economic even spiritual problems we currently face as a nation. Yet I still maintain that there is much more to celebrate than there is to despair about.

As we wage war against all that is wrong we must we must not internalise the bad things evil until we lose faith in ourselves to ameliorate all these social challenges.

There are by far more Bahamians who fear God than those who do not. There are yet more good Bahamians than there are bad.

The majority of our nation’s students have a zeal for educational excellence. These far outdistance those who could care less for education.

We must believe in ourselves; face and take on our problems, yet not become blind to all the progress, stability and possibilities around us.

Anecdotally, a professor stood in front of his class with a page of a white paper with just a dot in the centre of the page. “What do you see,” he asked the students. They all responded, “There is a dark spot in the centre”. The teacher pressed the students to look further. But they all persisted, “We see a spot on the paper.” The professor then asked, “What about the rest of the page?”

Too often in our personal and or national life we allow “the dark spot” to blind and hinder us from seeing the rest of the page.

Listen to the talk shows; engage in a conversation almost anywhere and you conclude that Bahamians are swimming in an ocean of hopelessness, despair, suspicion and loss of faith in ourselves.

This is a clear departure from the spirit and characteristics that coloured our founding fathers.

The men and women who steered us into national independence did not claim perfection, but they were moved by “perfect idealism” that landed us on the shores of nationhood.

I still believe the best about us far outweighs the worst in us.

I still proclaim I would rather be poor in this Bahamas than to be poor in America.

In the providence of Almighty God this is where He purposed for me to be born.

I am very proud that God placed me here and I will bloom right where I was planted.

I call on all who would read this to let us continue to hold on to our faith in God who has brought us thus far and each day renew our faith in ourselves.

While we must maintain a high regard for others nationalities we must continue to hold that as a nation we are as good as any and far better than most.

Our problems do not define us.

It is confidence in God and ourselves that will cause us to reach the proverbial promise land.

How we feel about ourselves will determine the heights we achieve.

There are many areas in our rational life where it is dark now- but I believe the morning will soon come.

History validates my faith. No lie can live forever. My personal faith shouts, ‘Amen’.

Because I believe in God, I also believe that my future is far better than my past. Let us continue to believe in ourselves and that our future is as bright as the promises of God.

God bless you and God bless our Bahamas