The way I see it, we must get on our knees and thank God for sparing us from the potential ravages of another Tropical storm. In this case, ISAAC.
However, in thanking God, we must come to the realization that we are no better than the persons in other territories who have been affected by storms, or other natural and man-made disasters.
In those territories, the people there pray too and they are badly affected. God knows WHAT to allow-WHEN; HOW and to WHOM.
So, sufficing to say, our turn will come. We know not the hour and even though we PRAY, we must still prepare for any eventuality and most importantly, we MUST prepare to meet our God, to whom we have to eventually give an account for the lives we have lived.
On Wednesday I stopped off at Best Buy in Gingerland, to collect a few items and the Super Market was ram packed with people. The cashiers’ lines were loooonnngggg!
I can well imagine that the same applied for Ram’s and Valu Mart.
As I waited in line, a young lady remarked: ‘Look how we here preparing and this time nutten going’ happen, you know!’
Now, she saying that and her basket full to the brim with stuff.
Well I newa!
I am reminded of the situation with a friend of mine. I am sure some of you heard me tell this tale before.
It was somewhere in the early 1990’s when this good friend of mine returned from the USA, after many years of absence from Nevis. As a matter of fact, I had not seen him since our Secondary School years, at CSS.
It therefore follows that he had not experienced a hurricane, as he was not here for HUGO in 1989.
So, he arrived back in time to get all of the alerts about a pending storm and having heard what had transpired with HUGO, he decided to impress his wife.
So, he went to the Supermarket and bought stuff like a case of sardines; case of sodabix; case of juice….
Man he shopped up a storm-literally!
Then he went home, all excited, with his load of HURRICANE GROCERIES.
‘’Honey am home and I got us all prepared for the storm.’
One look from his wife, told him that he was in trouble.
Her curt response: ‘What you doing—you opening a supermarket?
It took all of the wind from his sails. He immediately felt deflated and depressed.
That evening, as the rain fell and the winds blew, the ‘boys’ from the neighbourhood had got wind of the big buy and came over ‘to play dominoes’ while the storm passed.
By early that morning, all of the cases of stuff were empty and his wife was certainly not a happy trooper!
On a more serious note, Florence is beating up on the US coast, even as I write and even though ISAAC has passed us by, it still has the potential to become a hurricane and the potential to wreak some damage, somewhere in the world.
Also, even though SEPTEMBER is the nicest month in the year (at the risk of starting world war three), September, historically has produced the most storms to affect us. It means that there may be others behind Isaac.
I end the way I started.
We are not any better than anyone else and we better get prepared and stay prepared –not only for a potential storm but prepared to meet our maker.
That’s the way I see it. How do you see it?