Much to Celebrate

 

 

 

I am particularly peeved when someone says

There is nothing for Barbados to celebrate

And all that person can see is the last few years

And the challenges confronting us here of late.

It really appears that our memory is short

And that past successes have been cancelled out

And given the struggles that we currently engage

We say there is nothing really to shout about.

While I truly appreciate that these times are rough

And the ship of state is tossed high and low

Yet I am reminded of the good times we have had

And the mercies of God that so unceasingly flow.

To sum up fifty years in the last five years or so

Shows far more than a smattering of ingratitude

And when present challenges obliterate all the past

I must ask from whence came this ungrateful mood.

A sincere reflection over the last fifty years

Speaks to tremendous growth and development

Of a nation though small and lacking in resources

Yet striving and holding its own with Godly intent.

For we boast of God being the people’s guide

And boldly confessed His presence by our side

Yet in a moment of challenge and failing policies

That same God we are willing to openly deny.

For to say there is really nothing to celebrate

Is to say that God has done nothing for us

That there is nothing for which to be thankful

And therefore what is the need for all of the fuss.

Fifty years and still being able to recollect

Is a profound and God given opportunity

And a people granted such a welcome privilege

Should raise hearts and hands to God in unity.

Through much we have come ‘tis true, ‘tis true

These first fifty years post independence

There were times we plateaued and times we grew

But we put our hands to the plow without reticence.

  

Today there are challenges as there were in the past

That with trust in Almighty God we overcame

This is the opportune time that we look to Him again

Rather than spend our time in apportioning blame.

There’s much to celebrate just look around and you’ll see

Our colleges, our schools and our university

Churches of differing faiths flung far and near

And freedom of religious beliefs is still regarded here.

Having had ten elections since nineteen sixty-six

None of them were rigged and none of them were fixed

And on four occasions when the government was changed

It was done peaceably as though Divinely arranged.

Our dollar has remained steadfast its value unchanged

Unlike several of our Caribbean counterparts

Though threatened and battered time and again

This little nation has never lost heart.

Like most countries all around the globe

Crime has shaken us at our very foundation

But not all of our youth are going this way

For many have been taking a different direction.

And relative to many countries around the world

Barbadians still enjoy certain basic human rights,

Let us celebrate those rights that still remain

And persevere to preserve them with all our might.

Yes we have lost some gains and that hurts to the core

Like free university education and the like

But let’s celebrate Community College and the Polytechnic

And praise God for such morning, noon and night.

And in our celebrating let us spare a thought

For those Barbadians who are severely disadvantaged

No water at their taps and no reliable bus service

Who can blame them for feeling sabotaged?

And after a prolonged period of unprecedented drought

The long sought for rains have finally come

Let us celebrate the freshness of all nature

And the faithfulness of each and every morning’s sun

For nothing to celebrate is to dishonor the Creator

And at Him an accusatory finger direct

It’s an indication that He has done nothing for us

And therefore not worthy of our respect.

It is so easy given our differing political ideologies

To completely castigate an opposing view

But let us celebrate the contributions of all and sundry

The DLP, BLP, NDP, the ancient and old and even the new.

 
 

 

Let us celebrate the strengths of our two political parties

And the political balance they bring to our nation

And let’s celebrate too the several pressure movements

Which over the years have made an invaluable contribution.

Nothing to celebrate is a misguided and untruthful publication

Designed to bury us in the graveyard of pessimistic advocacy

But counting our blessings spread over the past fifty years

Is worthy of celebration and praise to God for His undying love and mercy.

HAPPY FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY BARBADOS

Stewart Russell © 2016