There is so much going on in the world right now; eye-opening things that remind us about the fragility of this life, the precious gift of time and the call to care for one another and remember what matters most.

From earthquakes, storms and volcano eruptions to wildfires and almost-plague-like illnesses, fighting words and rumours of war between nations, unexpected high-profile losses and crime in picture-perfect places – there’s no denying, at the very least, that something major is going on.

Compassion and prayers for anyone going through a crisis or challenging season.

I didn’t really want to write this post at first (or at all) but found it impossible to ignore the obvious ‘elephant’ on the map.

Please understand, this isn’t meant to incite fear or panic but to gently encourage all of us to be aware of what truly matters and not focus on the temporary but on the everlasting. I once would have rolled my eyes at that comment, so if you just did, that’s alright…read on a bit and see how it goes?

Brilliant scientists can gather in as many fancy labs as they like to build robots and edit weather patterns, but none of us can make an actual ocean or reproduce the sky or produce and position planets, no matter how skilled we might be with some paint and a brush. God doesn’t need anything, far less a lab, research papers, time or funding to create – never did and never will.

A few years ago, Barbados experienced its first tremor. I was here but didn’t feel it since I was driving, and some of the roads here aren’t the smoothest. Now, big-digit earthquakes are doing relay races around The Caribbean and we’re being educated about tsunami protocol. Tsunami? In case you didn’t know, Barbados is as flat as a CD, with the exception of a few calf-muscle-building hills.

The tallest building in ‘Bim’ is a few sneezes high and a drive to the other side of the island takes about a lunch hour’s drive time.

I’m not sure any of us who haven’t experienced it firsthand can imagine what it would be like to one day be at work and the next day at home under quarantine or to deal with a massive transportation shut-down, empty streets, mask-on mode, sketchy internet, overcrowded hospitals, a travel ban and…

In fact, let’s pause there for a second.

Travel ban? Yes – coronavirus has already skipped like a rock across the waters and through the air and now what could have seemed like ‘someone else’s problem’ is now a global situation.

In a flash, tourism-friendly countries are slamming doors, calling-off flights, flying-in and cordoning off citizens, trying to protect the general population from a potential health threat. Meanwhile, in Wuhan, two hospitals are being built in record time to accommodate and treat more people.

Whether it’s a tropical storm, the loss of a loved one or a water shortage in the parish of St. John, these things:

• test our character
• challenge (or show evidence of) our faith
• remind us that we are ultimately not in control of this world
• put our jobs and business plans in perspective

A strong wind can lift a house, fire can devour a forest, and a force of water can move a truck like it’s a piece of cotton.

Yes, planning is cool, and making good use of our time is healthy. But that time is a gift.

I’m no top scholar or poster-girl for perfection, but if the message in this post is connecting with you, and you’d like to live with hope and not in fear regardless of circumstances, please check out the links coming right up. 

Seeing others in pain, enduring traumatic situations is not easy; it can be downright heartbreaking. But to live life in a state of grief…is not living life at all…keep hope alive

What just happened? (and what you probably didn’t see on the news) Two Preachers YouTube Channel

Scriptures And Stories Podcast

Prophetic Drive Time

and this song

Compassion and prayers for anyone going through a tough time, facing a storm, enduring a health challenge or in a season of sadness. None of us is more important than the other, but when I think of the little ones amidst all this…tears…

Psalm 91:10 “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”

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