A Nevispages weekly feature by Curtis Morton Sr.
The way I see it, SUPERSTITIONS, are not real and of no effect really and rather than focusing on all of the possible ills that may befall us, we should really put our trust in God. Now don’t get me wrong, on the other hand, the devil is real and he is going about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
So what are SUPERSTITIONS?
I got some help from the Wikipedia encyclopedia:
‘A superstition is any belief or practice based upon one’s trust in luck or other irrational, unscientific, or supernatural forces. Often, it arises from ignorance, a misunderstanding of science or causality, a belief in fate or magic, or fear of that which is unknown. It is commonly applied to beliefs and practices surrounding luck, prophecy, and certain spiritual beings, particularly the belief that future events can be foretold by specific (apparently) unrelated prior events. The word superstition is often used to refer to a religion not practiced by the majority of a given society regardless of whether the prevailing religion contains alleged superstitions
The superstitious practice of placing a rusty nail in a lemon is believed to ward off the evil eye and evil in general, as detailed in the folklore text Popular Beliefs and Superstitions from Utah.’
Some time ago, I told you about my late friend, Phinehas Griffin, who while at a particular graveyard, pointed in the direction of where he thought an acquaintance was buried and a highly ranked civil servant, hit him on the fingers, admonishing him not to point, because ‘his fingers were about to drop off!’
Well I newa!
Now, there are two incidents in my life that I just cannot explain, but I will wait patiently until I get to heaven, by God’s grace, when I can get it first hand from King Jesus himself, a rational explanation.
The first one happened sometime around the year, 1983.
I was making a late run home, on my trusted moped. As I approached that slight bend by that building which once housed the JUC factory (close to Noel’s garage), a dark animal-like looking thing, ran out of nowhere, across the road. I was going at full pelt. There was no way that I could avoid hitting the thing.
I closed my eyes and braced myself, in anticipation for the inevitable impact and it never came. Seconds later, I opened my eyes and realized that I was still very much on the bike and very much alive. I rode back and shone my light, all in the nearby bushes, in order to satisfy my curiosity. Nothing.
The next day, in broad daylight, I searched the entire area nearby and could not find anything that would give a logical explanation.
The second incident happened some 13 years, prior. It was the1st of August 1970. I was not yet a Seventh Day Adventist and so I was dutifully engaged in assisting my Mom, of blessed memory, in doing some cleaning in the living room.
Now in that spacious living room, were two huge mirrors. The two of them formed an imposing twosome, perched majestically on the wall, on opposing ends of the room. Those two mirrors had withstood the test of time for time immemorial, long before I was born
It was probably approaching 4 pm on that afternoon when one of the mirrors came crashing down. There wasn’t an earthquake. Nobody had troubled the thing. It just came crashing down and broke into a million pieces!
I remember vividly that while we were cleaning up the broken glass, my mother kept lamenting that it was a ‘BAD OMEN’ and that something bad was going to happen and somebody was going to die. Even at my youthful age and not even well versed in the bible, I openly scoffed at the idea and told my mother that everything would be alright.
A little later that evening, we heard of the Christena disaster. An event that totally transformed the social and economic landscape of our beautiful island paradise.
My mother had the last word/s: ‘I told you so…’
Many of the survivors also hinted to a passenger, who remained conspicuous during the trip: A strange-looking man, in a dark suit…..
Now on Saturday 1st August, makes it 50 years to the day since the tragic event and I can still recall some of the dramatic happenings of the day as if it was yesterday.
I remember, all of us driving to town in my Dad’s car and when we arrived in the vicinity of the Charlestown pier, we were told that dead bodies were being tossed onto the pier.
We were curious, as we had already learnt that my cousin Roy and his dad, were supposed to be on the boat. As we determined to go onto the pier, one of our number (who will remain unnamed for the purpose of this class), started ah wailing and screaming his head off) and so my father decided to take us back home.
I remember seeing people crying in the streets, as they got news of the demise of their loved ones and for weeks after, some persons were still hopeful that their loved ones had miraculously survived.
Fifty years later, we have more boats, maybe even more reliable boats, with a much better system of accountability and safety.
Nevis has achieved a greater sense of independence, but the hurt and the memories still linger on.
There are several survivors who still cry up onto this day when they recount the events of that afternoon.
I even discovered that our now Deputy Governor-General, Her Honour, Hyleta Liburd, was due to get married to her husband, Elmo on 6th August and there were quite a number of persons on that boat, who intended to attend that wedding.
She later tried to seriously postpone the wedding, but it was still eventually held on August 6th and so I want to be among the first, to congratulate Lady Hyleta and Mr. Elmo Liburd, on their pending 50th wedding anniversary.
Rewind into biblical history: God intentionally wiped out almost the entire world at one point and only Mr. Noah and his obedient family survived, along with some animals.
Centuries later, the world is virtually overpopulated and people are still steeped in sin and chaos.
Sadly, it is time for another shaking up of the earth. This time, not by water, but by fire.
The question is: When we are weighed in the scales of eternity, will be found wanting?
You see, if some persons had known that the Christena would sink on that day, they would not have boarded a boat that could take 150 passengers, but was loaded with approximately 320 on that fateful day.
We have an advantage right now. We KNOW that Jesus is coming SOON. We may not know the day and the hour, but importantly, WE KNOW that he is coming. I think it is time that we get fully ready for his appearing.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?