Oh Friends, the good news is that it’s over at last! Yeah! The G8 and G20 Summit meetings ended here yesterday amidst rain and the confusion that comes when many people gather to protest everything under the sun, under the watchful eye of numerous law enforcement personnel. Thankfully, I don’t think there were any serious clashes between police and protesters like on Saturday, but like there were several hundred arrests. The bad news though is two fold. First, remember today is Monday, which means work and your spiritual armour for protection against Lucifer and his evil cohorts. The second is that I don’t know if, when and how the best big city in the world, Toronto the Good, will ever recover from the nonsense that took place here this weekend. Steups! Oh Friends, the physical property damage will be replaced, possibly with better stuff too, but also with higher insurance premiums if the Federal Govt. keeps its promise not to reimburse property owners for any damage or loss they innocently suffered. Many businesses, employees and condo dwellers in the cordoned off area had already suffered economic loss and inconvenience even before the meetings began, can you imagine their consternation now, if they suffered further setbacks after the confrontations? Ah Lord eh! The biggest question though is how will it reflect in the city’s bruised and battered emotional state? How will it affect its overall psyche? The whole gamut of negative reactions are involved; from anger, to disappointment to betrayal. Not to mention accusations already being thrown back and forth by police, protesters, media and governmental agencies about who did what and how the whole thing was handled. Anger and resentment will surely simmer till God alone knows when, while questions will also be asked for a long time. Could the tragedy have been prevented? Should the Summits have been organized here in the first place? Who’s to blame for what? Which heads should roll? Who’s eventually going to pay for all the damage? How will it affect both the tourism and general business sectors, since riots usually bring lots of negative press? How will we be viewed by the international community and media; as world class, or also ran? All those are questions that will rear there ugly heads. But sadly, only time will bring answers. Some of the most interesting questions though will pertain to how all of this plays out on the political scene? What effect will it have on the Toronto Mayoral elections due sometime later this year? That was already a hotbed of contention before the meetings took place. Then, will it have any bearing on the results of the next Provincial Election, due within the next year or so? That leads us to the major question; how will it affect the minority Federal Conservative govt. now in power, who masterminded the whole fiasco? Will it bring the smaller parties together and initiate the vote of no confidence they have already threatened so many times, forcing an early Federal Election? Or will our wannabe dictator, Mr Harper, come out smelling like a rose, and continue to impose his singular will, to ride roughshod over the nation? As I said earlier, Friends, only time will give us the answers to the many questions we’ve posed. Now, having posted all those negatives, are there any positives to be taken from this most unfortunate incident? The only one I can think of is ‘DON’T DO IT AGAIN!’ Every year our leaders get together with a lot of huff and puff, but nothing concrete ever comes out of it. They put out communiqués that in essence say nothing, mean nothing to poor, suffering folks, and a few promises that never fully materialize, if they ever see the light of day. All it does is provide wonderful fodder every year for people with a destructive agenda, and inconvenience those who live in the meeting areas. So it’s a lot of taxpayers’ being money spent, inevitable destruction of property, much police presence and arrests, possible death and serious injury, then further bad blood between opposing sides and no real improvement in the world’s many ills. War, poverty, hunger, violence, oppression, greed, disease and sickness still rule the roost in the most technologically advanced and wealthy civilization mankind has ever seen. Chuh! Yes Friends, by now you understand my feelings on the subject. It was a sad waste of time, effort and money; all to satisfy the vast and still growing ego of one man who seeks to write his name large on the world stage. But unfortunately, when the history is written and told, the Summit Meetings in Toronto in June 2010 will only be remembered for the rioting, the widespread security barriers and overwhelming police presence. No one will be able to tell you what good came out of it. My people, when will we ever learn that no really important, far reaching or long lasting decisions are ever made by a large number of politicians meeting over two days. It’s hard enough to reach some consensus over difficult matters between a few, powerful and diverse entities in a short period of time, how can we ever hope to have much come out when so many are involved? Oh Friends, thankfully the nightmare in Toronto is over now. I’m sure we’ll bounce back, for we always do, just not in what form and fashion. Let’s hope we bounce back in a much better and godlier way than we were before. And it’s very important to pray that we forget the unfortunate past, sooner rather than later, and for us to work seriously at becoming the vibrant, diverse, friendly, godly, world class city we’re destined to be. We pray this in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Oh Friends, as Jesus said in our Bit; only some are given the understanding to know the veiled teachings of God’s kingdom. It sure seems that those who organized this disastrous incident weren’t among those lucky few. It also shows how desperately we need the LOVE Revolution we’ve been talking about, for it’s only LOVE that can conquer the evils of the world. Let’s seriously try moving it along nuh, else we’ll only have more, and possibly worse incidents than this. Much LOVE!…it’s becoming ever more important …to LOVE our God…SPREAD His Word…and LIVE our Faith…
SCRIP-BITS 