As crime continues to escalate in this country, a Presbyterian minister has advised citizens to flee from danger if there is a plot to kill them. "You do not have to fight every battle. You do not have to be strong all the time. You do not have to show how powerful and mighty you are in every crisis," Reverend Dr Randall Sammah said at the opening of Grant Memorial Presbyterian School's Creche and Tree Lighting ceremony on Friday evening.
A representative who brought greetings on behalf of the Ministry of Education also noted that throughout this Christmas season if people focused on the love that God gave in bringing forth his son, T&T would be a better place."This is how we would work towards avoiding crime, in terms of how we treat and teach our children, our future generation, our leaders of tomorrow."
Rev Sammah said the biblical story of King Herod's decision to murder all male infants to ensure King Jesus did not live to overthrow him, is a part of the Christmas story that is not told very often.He pointed out that when Jesus' life was in danger, his parents heeded the advice of angels to flee to another land until the danger had passed. In this century, he said, Jesus, Mary and Joseph would have been labelled refugees.
"So what the angels told Mary and Joseph, to run and flee from a dangerous situation, is good advice for us. "You and I don't need to stay and fight every storm that comes into our life." Sammah said there was no disgrace in running to avoid a fight until one was better prepared for it. Situations of adversity which present themselves, he pointed out, are God's way of teaching us that there is wisdom in waiting to fight our battles at the right time.
The minister observed that it was natural human response to want to retaliate, but he said there is no need to pretend we can handle every situation of adversity."We are living in a time, in a society where so many people are anxious to pick a fight. So many people want to be confrontational with us. So many people are eager to watch us in our faces and tell us things that hurt, or tell us things that are mean to destroy our spirit.
"Here we see Mary and Joseph avoiding a confrontation, finding shelter in a distant land, waiting for the storm to pass and waiting for God's guidance."Linking the story to the current situation in Trinidad and Tobago, Rev Sammah said: "There are times when we need to take shelter from a storm."He invited all present, including councillor John Mark Chankersingh representing San Fernando Mayor Marlene Coudray and Bishop Jankee Raghunanan, representing Minister of Energy Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan, to put all their battles in God's hands.