Gustav and the Jamaican Bible

It’s 1100 here in Jamaica and we have started to feel the effects of Gustav. Forecasters have predicted that the centre of the storm, which had little mercy on Haiti, will pass several miles off our north coast. Jamaica should be getting some heavy rains late this evening and all day tomorrow, so I doubt I’ll be at the Bible House (work) tomorrow.

God be praised, Dornett and I are living in a pretty save place – we live in the highlands, our home is a concrete structure (even the roof) and no trees overarch the house. We are concerned about many of our fellow Jamaicans however, so in this morning’s family devotion, we prayed especially for persons living in low line areas as well as those who, unlike us, are unsure their homes will be able to withstand Gustav’s breath.

“Iiz aa sekl!” / “Ease and settle!” i.e. “Peace! Be still!” These are the words Jesus used to calm the storm of Mark 4:39. This story is one of the stories featured in “A Who Run Things?” - a dramatic audio production of selected New Testament stories into Jamaican Creole. The production was spearheaded by the Bible Society of the West Indies, Jamaica, and was launched in 1996. As the title suggests, the audio production was done in order to remind Jamaicans of God’s sovereignty in the midst of the chaotic nature of Events we face as a nation.

Jesus, at least in our mind, is no doubt the master of nature; however, as many of us can testify, sometimes we find it difficult to find correspondence between our emotions and our creeds, particularly when it comes on to issues relating to suffering and evil, eg Gustav.

I don’t know about you, but whenever I experience this lack of correspondence my soul suffers from lack of happiness. Oh the delight of having intellect and affections dancing to the same tune, dancing together to the truths concerning God!

“Iiz aa sekl!”