The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

On this first day of Spring, I should like to share these words in your publication as we face this present day crisis together in the Commonwealth of The Bahamas and all around the world.

THEN THERE WAS LIGHT

The Bahamas – 700 islands and cays nestled in the Atlantic Sea surrounded by the most beautiful, clear and sparkling waters in our World – the Earth.

Mother Nature - the birth Mother of our World – the Earth, connected by oceans of water washing from shore to shore and reaching all other lands around the globe – WE ARE THE WORLD.

The World - what is its genesis, what sustains its life? What lies at its core that vibrates and spirals upward from inward, through layers upon layers of strata …higher and higher until it reaches the surface where the circle of life as we know it exists?

Humans – who are we, what are we, why are we here?

Mother Nature IS – She IS eons before and eons beyond our time, and we humans exist within Her being. Mother Nature speaks to us in serenity from the calm surface of the sea, in the gentle waves awash upon the shore, in the freshness of the morning air, in the warmth of the setting sun, in the whispers of the wind amongst the trees, in the soft patters of raindrops on the ground. Are we listening?

Mother Nature speaks to us in anger from the crackling crash of lightning, in the roar of thunder, in the howling of the wind, in the crash of the waves upon the shore. Are we listening?

Mother Nature speaks to us in fury from the horrendous power of the hurricane, in the relentless roaring of the wind, in the swelling surges of the sea, in the pelting pellets of rain that merge with the monstrous mountains of ocean surge that crash and crack and beat us relentlessly to the ground. Are we listening?

It is time to listen when She speaks, to learn when She shows us that we are not the world – She is.

Our greed, our arrogance, our selfishness, our disrespect, has brought us here. Now is the time to acquiesce to our place as the servants and the stewards of our home, our World, our Earth, together as one, in concert with our Mother! Then there was light – of the mind - to see what we lookin’ at – and to move forward, upward, onward together!

Our Birth Mother speaks - we are forced to listen intently, hearing Her voice and respecting her admonitions by paying respect and homage to the World in which She has placed us – a FAMILY ISLANDS archipelago nestled warmly within her bosom, whose inhabitants’ hands reach out and unite one to the other, clasped enthusiastically in celebration for times of joy, and stretching instinctively outwards with comfort and healing in times of grief and sorrow!

PAM BURNSIDE

Nassau,

March 19, 2020.