Amina Blackwood Meeks, Contributor
AAH SAH, sometimes yu jus haffe teck bad tings meck laugh. Cause sometimes if yu doan laugh it get badder.
For dere it is Miss Lady decide sey she going to spend a quiet Good Friday up at yard, den she nuh mus know sey quiet and Likkle Miss Jing Bang do not go togedda. So when she har come knock pan har door so early in de mawnin she shudda form like she nuh deh-deh.
For she did done plan fe keep de peace, doan sey a wud to a living soul, faas an pray till tree o'clock an den have a feas of de bun an cheese from which she had dutifully abstained fe period of Lent. But a Miss Lady yu know, too decent fe nat lend a listening ear when it look like somebody need dat. So she let in de Jing Bang.
An as she enter de door she start leggo question pan Miss Lady.
Fus ting she want to know is how comes it dat everyting dat was taken as gospel when when gospel an everyting was under de control of man is now coming under question an scrutiny when it come from under de control of said man. For ascardin to JB, every religion into de whole wide world dat believe into a god, believe an preach sey everyting what happen under de sun an even above it, come chu de hand of said god.
DIVINE ORDER
Dem preach inna pulpit or mosque or synagogue or street corner or whichsoever dem preach dat sun rise and set pan Divine order, moon and sun kean drop outa sky chu Divine, some a dem even sey dat man what teef an commit crime of any order born fe do it chu Divine order.
Ascardin to JB when man preach it man an hooman believe it, man an hooman repeat it. For it come in like sey de fundamental tenet of fe dem belief system is dat Man a god an God a man, an whatever man sey an do a mus God ordain an order it so. So how comes when hooman find demself into seat from which man love proclaim certain relationship wid de Divine an proclaim de same relationship wid dem an de Divine men an people have a fault wid dat?
An Miss Lady meck JB gwaan rant an rave an talk into har parables an den she genkly ask har fe explain har meaning, talk it out loud an clear. JB sey she want to know how comes when man get up an sey, God ordain dem fe rule it is right and justified but when hooman sey God ordain dem do man tun roun an express disappointment. Who or what dem really disappointed in, dat is de question?
'LORD, IS IT I?'
Miss Lady sey she cudda swear sey when Jing Bang pronounce dat deh question she hear a voice from heaven gi out, "Lord, is it I?" Well she sey she fass all de while pan Good Friday an har head never get so light yet till she a hear vices. For dat was nutten but a vice wid a vicious question. So she ask JB if she tink sey God was talking to himself when him ask such a question. JB sey no, him was asking de question of all who gi demself title of Lord an Master, sit at de right hand of demself an decide sey unless dem believe a ting let no one declare it. So ascardin to JB God nuh mus waan know if a him dem disappointed in.
Miss Lady sey right dere so is where dem fundamentally challenge dem owna religious principles, whatever those might be. For nobody inna dem rightful mind wudda suddenly tun roun an tell dem God sey him wrong. An if is nat fe dem God, who ascardin to ole paradigm tinking, meck everyting dat was made, den a who meck dis chice dat in dem new paradigm philosophy cudden did meck by him, dat is what Jing Bang wants to know. Who dem bex wid? De choosen or de chooser?
MOUT SHUT
Now Jing Bang put it squarely to Miss Lady dat it look like everyting have a right to call demself choosen except hooman. She call to mind sey even bush what doan serve no useful purpose dat no discerning person can see declare dat it is anointed, an some big smaddy fraid fe call it annoying. Dem wudda prefer fe kip dem mout shut an gwaan like dem nuh see it a run amok all over de worl, a teck root which part such a root is nat to teck, a blighted de prospect of every living ting an utter nat a baai.
Dem wudda give it compliment bout how good it look nex to a particular brand of rice, praise how de rice how it do such a good job of carrying de bush, but dem wudda never raise a question bout if such a combination fall into Divine order.
JB sey in one felt swoop some very complicated tings place demself on de table - rice, bush, hooman, man, war, peace, local, farin, black, white an consistency of principles and beliefs. Miss Lady sey dat is de only proof she want sey is God who do it, for who else cudda meck anybody an summuch a dem, get up an place demself into a place fe kean stan dem grung, tun demself upside down fe fine out is what dem really stan fah. Prekkeh pan de land.
Miss Lady sey is a proper prekkeh fe fine weself into inna de miggle a Passion. She sey it remind har of har father's favourite hymn. De one whey start sey "Must Jesus bear de cross alone an all de worl go free?" Dah part did sweet Jing Bang. She sey maybe Jesus will bear de cross alone an everybody else mus bear dem owna crosses. It is de crosses of patriarchy. What a ting when dem discover sey God is very disappint in nuff of de sinting dat Man appint.
And right deh so de clock struck midday an as is customary Miss Lady commence har annual Good Friday prayers and meditation an invite Jing Bang to join har in supplication for a bright resurrection.
