How bout repentance

Somehow dis Annual Day of Prayer scheduled foh Monday not really registering on me. We been resorting to dis Day of Prayer ting since dis wave of Crime scourging our blessed land, I believe it’s de wrath of God. Prayer! Prayer! And year after year nothing happening. Pray foh de nation, pray foh de Prime Minister, pray foh de Leader ah de Opposition, pray foh Guv-ah-mint Ministers, pray foh Tom, Jane and Henry, instead ah tings getting better, it going from bad to worse.{{more}} Isn’t dat interesting, we offering prayers foh some ah de very people who are being blamed foh not doing enough to stop dividing de country, stop de victim-I-sing of innocent people, stop freeing criminals thereby creating an environment foh further breakdown ah de moral fabric ah de society; shouldn’t de church be frank wid us and tell us de truth about what God expects us to do? and demand dat we Repent. Why Repent? Because dat is what people like King David, king Ahab, de children of Israel and many more uses to do when de wrath of God came down wid its full weight pon dem. It’s all there in de Book of Isaiah: Repent, seek forgiveness and den God will hear us, forgive us and heal our land. Day of Prayer is like using ah sticking plaster to dress ah cutlass wound.

Our Day of Prayer is for de records, people come-plain bout de Church’s inactivity, so dey reacting, de easy way out: Call ah meeting of Church Leaders, den run to Min. Walters to tell him “We having ah day of Prayer, we will pray foh de nation and special Prayer foh all yuh”. Ah bet dey didn’t tell Walters dat foh threatening to run over ah Police and bad behave-yah in de Bank, he needs Prayer and Repentance.

Dat’s why ah like de John de Baptiste story. He saw ah country steeped in sin from de man at de head to de one at de tail, John didn’t call foh no “Day of Prayer” no! He prophesied as he saw it, if dey didn’t Repent, destruction will stalk de land, he told dem. John was not afraid to challenge King Herod when he took away his brother’s wife; she didn’t rest until she saw to it dat John was beheaded. We need more men like John de Baptiste in de Churches today, all de none-cents going on, need de Herod exposure by de Church, but not these guys, dey will go there Monday, pray to God to give these same people more strength to continue to misbehave and bring down more ah de Master’s wrath pon de land. However leave it to de Lord and I still urge one and all to acknowledge de Day of Prayer, at least Pray to God to lead us to Repentance!

MY FIRST BREADFRUIT BAKES

Ah few weeks ago ah wrote ah story bout Zerah Sutherland and his Breadfruit Flour, how he was handed de technology to mek Flour from Breadfruit by a group ah Canadian research students, but he was having problems getting financed. Lie-Za reminds me dat Breadfruit was here long before me and Zerah saw sunlight, dat was back in de War days when Granny dem had no rice or flour, dey had to eat every ting dat was grown here. Things like breadfruit and Banana were dried and pounded in ah mortar into flour. Why did we ever stop doing dat.

Well Zerah sent me ah “thank you” package of his Breadfruit Flour to sample and ah bottle of his tomato paste. De tomato is ah bit on de sweet side but it taste like fresh tomato, he is planning to use de Paw Paw as ah substitute foh tomato. But de Breadfruit is ah different story. Ah made bakes wid it and have one come-plane, it was not enough. It is obvious dat he does not have de machinery to produce ah product as powdery as wheat flour, but Zerah’s Breadfruit is like Whole Grain Flour. Ah mixed three parts breadfruit flour to one part whole-wheat flour, ah bit ah coconut oil, baking powder and ah spoonful ah sugar. Man every body in de family enjoyed de bakes. Ah feel ah Breadfruit dumpling will taste even greater. Another pack please Zerah?

I had written because he was on to ah good ting and needed to get finance foh his project. De Agricultural Die-foh-see-if-e-case-shun program from which he was seeking funding, was giving him de run-round. Dey were given eleven million dollars to fund projects like Zerah’s, and dem fellars sat down dey playing Bankers, puss-he-foot-in, frustrating and confusing prospective Project carriers, wid ah set ah form and form-all-at-tea, hum-bugs! De time dey had to disburse de money, ran out and dey had to beg foh extension ah time to spend de money. Ah don’t want it to look like ah persecuting de members ah d’s Guv-ah-mint Boards and Committees, but ah get complaints from ah lot ah people, and it seems like some ah d’s members operating from ah premise ah N.V. distrust and disdain foh de prospective Project Carriers. Imagine giving Zerah less dan half de estimated amount ah money foh de project, and saying “Zerah got enough”! But Zerah will get all de money he wants, only because de Prime Minister intercede and say Zerah Flour good.

WHAT AH P.T.

Lie-Za was saying is ah P.T. de PM was not present at de Young Leaders Awe-ward ceremony to instruct de Grammar School Master in charge ah de Young Leaders, to let young Alex Veira, de leader ah de group go up and receive de Awe-ward!

And is ah P.T de Prime Minister didn’t hear bout Dougal James’ plight to see dat he got de job at de Offshore Finance Authority. Ah job way he been holding de fort foh sixteen months, and in de end he didn’t get it. Let us not frustrate de young people, give dem what lickle is dey’s, don’t kill dey spirit.

SPEED TRAPS NEEDED

Lie-Za say to tell de Police dat we don’t need Seat-belt Law. Seat-belts don’t cause accident, speeding and wreckless driving do. We need Laws and speed tracking equipment foh dem wreckless drivers, racing way and above de speed limits, mashing up people and vehicles.

MURRAY VILLAGE WINS MISS SVG

Royalty has finally come to us at Murray Village. Ronique Dellimore was crowned Miss SVG 2008. De last time ah saw Ronique wid her Mom Dawn, ah told her ah wanted to big her up and say she going win, but dah might ah put goat mouth pon her. Ronique is pleasant, tek after he granny Miss Rosalind foh good looks, dat’s to mek her mom and uncle Dr. Rohan De Shong jel-us! Ah not going to mek any predictions on her chances at de Miss Carival, ah fraid ah go put goat mouth pon she. And wid dat, ah gone again

One Love Bassy

Bassy Alexander is a land surveyor, folklorist and social commentator.