SCRIP-BITS

It’s a good thing I did what I did yesterday and did not leave it for today. The duchess and I had a wonderful time floating down the Martha Brae River in the Parish of Trelawney, on a bamboo raft as an older negro man guided us down with his long bamboo pole. Now the scenery was not as majestic, or the river as big and deep as the White River, one we rafted down some 15-20 years ago, but this was a closer and more intimate ride, with the banks close by and the vegetation more in your face. 

Surprisingly, there were all kinds of trees along the banks, including bananas, almonds, mangoes, a lot of bamboo, and a host of bigger ones that I don’t the names of. But the most prevalent of them all was the parasite running vine called Morning Glory. And Brother was it ever parasitic! (smile) It covered everything: from the smallest trees to the very big ones. At some points it was just pure morning glory along the banks. You’d never know that there were trees below it. 

Anyway, our ‘poler’ didn’t rush us down the river, so it was a nice, slow, cool, calm ride, about 45 minutes I guess, with lots of laughing and talking about the different trees and the old time customs that we were accustomed to. There were a few people along the banks with stalls selling arts and crafts, clothing and food. One sweet mouth woman talked me into buying a coconut, which I really didn’t want, but it proved useful in quenching the thirst as we journeyed down the river. 

Oh, and by the way, the duchess now has a new title; the First Lady! Hn, hn! This happened at the end of the raft ride, when they tried to sell us a couple of pictures they took of us as we were coming in to the drop off point. I was coming up the stairs to look at them, when the young man doing the selling, kept talking about ‘here comes the president,’ trying to sweet talk me into buying the pictures at some ‘thiefing’ rate. But I told him to wait until the duchess came back from the bathroom. 

That’s when he began talking the ‘first lady’ nonsense. But little did he know that it would have been better to deal with me, because the first lady is the best ‘haggler’ in town. (smile) That’s why I have her do all the business deals, then I pay the moolah. And she did beat him down to a more reasonable price. I think she got the local Jamaican price and not the ‘thieving’ tourist one. 

After that we headed back to Negril to the Margaritaville bar to collect my once lost but now found watch. And while there I obviously had to have a dip in the salt. Even up there the sea was a bit frothy and rough, not as calm as the previous day. So after the dip and retrieving my watch, along with drinking a Dragon stout, the local brew, we headed back for Mo Bay as the sun was going down. 

Now there four other born and bred Jamaican family members in the car beside me, and it being Friday night they wanted to eat some local food, so we stopped at a food place along the way. But all they had at the time was fry fish, which I didn’t want. The others though had a ball eating the fry fish with ‘bammie,’ roast breadfruit, fry green plantain and festival. 

Strangely enough, back in the north country I don’t eat festival because I think it’s too dry and blah, but the festival down here tastes different and I actually had a couple and enjoyed them. I also had another Dragon while they were enjoying their fry fish. Then we headed back to Mo Bay where I got some tasty chicken foot soup, came back to the hotel and listened to some live music while eating it. And yes, I know it’s Saturday and you all want to hear what quotes our friend Anselm sent us this week, as he aspires to inspire us for a better tomorrow. 

So here goes: This first one says: ‘If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.’ And generally speaking that is quite true. If you work diligently towards your dreams, you will eventually reap success, and ofttimes at unexpected times and places. But you do have to work in the direction to which you want to go. And I will add, you need to include the Lord in your plans and doing as James says, ‘If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that.’ (James 4:15) Yes, recognize His sovereignty and lordship over our lives. 

And this next one intrigues me. ‘Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground.’ I guess he’s saying that freedom doesn’t come without a fight; you can’t get change without some upheaval and dissension. And that certainly seems true. No change comes without disruption of the normal state of affairs, since very few of us give up our way of life without a struggle. 

And this one is oh so true: ‘Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.’ Oh friends, smart leaders have been practicing that since the beginning of time. That’s why they say you get the government you deserve, because the government can only do to you what you allow them to. 

That’s why there have been revolutions and other strife filled events down through the years; people unhappy with the government’s dictates and refusing to obey to obey them. In more stable societies we see this happen in a change of government during elections. As they further say, you can fool some of the people all the time, but you can’t fool all of the people all of the time, only some of the time. Or something to that effect. (smile) 

And this last quote tells us that: ‘It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.’ Now that’s gospel truth my brethren. Just like it’s easier to straighten a bent tree when it’s a sapling, it’s also easier to change humans when they’re young and haven’t become too entrenched in their ways. It’s like they say, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. That’s why it’s ever so important friends that we teach our children the right way from young. 

One of the first things the Lord made Moses tell the children was: ‘These words, which I command thee this day shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children…’ (Deut. 6:6-7a) That’s because the Lord knew the earlier the children learned His Word, the more liable they were to keep it. Hence Cousin Sol’s wise dictum: ‘Train up a child in the way he should go: and (even) when he is old, he will not depart from it.’ 

Yes my people, when we mould our children from an early age with a taste for the things of God, though they may stray, that strong foundation in God will never depart from them. And you see so many examples of that; children growing up in Christian homes then leaving the church for whatever reason, but eventually coming back when life hits them full on. (smile) 

I can personally testify to that, because I grew up in the church, but for a number of years I didn’t have anything to do with the church. Don’t ask me why, (smile) but I never lost the basic Christian belief and behaviour that was instilled into me as a child. And that’s why I think we as parents in this generation have done a poor job of training up our children right, because too many of them have no idea of, or use for God. 

Too many of them don’t even know of Him. But as believers, we know that once we’re alive, there is hope, so it’s not too late to begin training up the next generation, our grandchildren, in the way they ought to go, the Christian way, so they can make a positive difference to our strife-filled world! Much LOVE!

…unless Christ lays the foundation…the house will not stand…

P.S. Yes it’s long, but rather informative, I would say. (smile) Much LOVE!