A Love Message to the Nation
By Barrington H. Brennen, February 7, 2014
For all residents of The Bahamas during February 2014, the
month of love.
Published in The Nassau Guardian on February 14, 2014
Are we a nation torn apart by violence and crime or are we a
nation filled with love, compassion,
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Barrington H. Brennen |
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and understanding?
Some of us are grasping feverishly to what’s left of a sense
of national love, compassion, and understanding. All is not
lost. For almost two decades I have been writing in this
newspaper about romantic and marital love. In this article
I’ve decided to talk about our need for “national love or
“neighborly love” Yes, it seems as though love is fading
away, but we must not let go. In 1965
Hal David
and Burt Bacharach
wrote these
words:
“What the world needs now, Is love, sweet love,
It's the only thing that there's just too little of.
What the world needs now, Is love, sweet love,
No,
not just for some but for everyone.”
Isn’t it interesting how poet Hal David almost fifty years
ago was also concerned about how love was fading away in the
world. He saw the world then filled with plenty—everything
it needed, but one thing it needed the most of was love. He
saw then national and international violence, prejudice,
hatred, and war. That was in 1965. It’s the same or worse
today.
The two stanzas of the song are:
“Lord, we don't need another mountain,
There are
mountains and hillsides enough to climb,
There are
oceans and rivers enough to cross,
Enough to last 'til the end of time.
Lord, we don't need another meadow,
There are
cornfields and wheat fields enough to grow,
There are
sunbeams and moonbeams enough to shine,
Oh listen Lord, if you want to know…oh…”
Here is a stanza I just penned with the same theme in mind:
“Lord, we don’t need another white sandy
beach,
Or groupers down deep in the sea to reach.
We do not need more warm sunny days for
tourist to bathe
Nor first-class automobiles to drive down by
the bay.
What The Bahamas needs now, Is love, sweet
love,
No, not just for some but for everyone.”
I found it also fascinating that it was also in 1965 that
Jamaican, the late Bob Marley wrote the song ,“One
Love—People Get Together.” The song was released as a single
in 1965 but used later on his album “Exodus” in 1977. He
also wrote out of a need for his country to live in peace
and not in war. The central theme of the song is also love,
peace and harmony. Here are a few lines from the
song:
“One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning (One love)
So shall it be in the end (One heart)
Alright, "Give thanks and praise to the Lord and I will feel
all right."
"Let's get together and feel all right."
One more thing . . .
Sayin', "One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right."
I'm pleading to mankind (One love)
Oh, Lord (One heart) Whoa. . . “
TRUE LOVE FOR EVERYONE
True love dispels hatred. True love neutralizes the need
for war and violence. True love crosses racial and ethnic
barriers. True love is blind to the physical make up
(color, size, height, accent) of the person but opened to
the hearts and feelings of everyone—black or white, Bahamian
or Haitian, Jamaican or Greek, American or German.
Decades ago (between the 40s and 60s) countless persons
came from other Caribbean Islands to work in The Bahamas.
They came from Barbados, Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad, (etc) to
be police and prison officers and teachers. We needed them,
so we invited them to come. They made The Bahamas their
home. They got married here and now know more about this
country than their own birth country. They love being
Bahamian. Why then are we allowing xenophobic behaviors to
overtake us? Is that love? Have we forgotten where we came
from? Most Bahamians have another nationality in their
heritage. Let’s not forget that The Bahamas is a tiny
melting pot of nations where the energies from each culture
merge into what should be one national force of love,
compassion and understanding. That’s our nation. Do not
let our nation become a brick oven of hatred, anger
violence, racism and sexism. “Let’s get together and feel
all right.”
HOW CAN WE LOVE MORE?
What can we do as individuals to change our nation and let
more love permeate our hearts?
-
Each individual must be determined to show love,
respect, and appreciation to everyone, whether on the
bus, in the workplace, church, sport center, or home.
-
Each individual must value everyone as 100% equal to him
or herself, regardless of color, nationality, language,
ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or religious
belief. Respect the right of each one to be different.
-
Each individual should make it a point during the
remaining weeks in February to reach out to someone
unknown and say something encouraging and uplifting to
the person. Make sure it is a person of a different
race, language, nationality, ethnicity or religious
background, etc. Whatever you say, say it sincerely
with meaning.
Let’s get together and start loving everyone
unconditionally.
“Let’s get together and feel all
right.”
Barrington H. Brennen is a marriage and family therapist and
board certified clinical psychotherapist, USA. Send your
questions or comments to barringtonbrennen@gmail.com or
write to P.O. Box CB-13019, Nassau, The Bahamas, or visit
www.soencouragement.org or
call 242-327-1980 or 242-477-4002.
