If early morning mist obscures a view of the hills, soothing words of prayer, insightful sermons and musical and other tributes can stir emotions and wipe away tears.
That bit of reality may have encouraged Barbados’ Government offices in Miami, Washington and Toronto to organise combined services to mark the 44th anniversary of the island’s Independence and to eulogize David Thompson, the former Prime Minister who died recently. And even in such cities as Ottawa and New York where religious observances to hail Barbados’ birthday were separated from memorial services, Thompson’s death and the national mourning it spawned were intricately interwoven in the celebratory atmosphere of Independence.
That certainly was the case in Washington where Barbadians attended a thanksgiving service at the Holy Comforter Episcopal Church where the Reverend Canon Dr Kortright Davis serves at rector. For amidst the organ music, the singing of national anthems, the scripture lessons, hymns and the Independence Message of Prime Minister Freundel Stuart, read by Minister of Foreign Affairs Senator Maxine McLean, there was an eloquent eulogy for Thompson by Sir George Alleyne, director emeritus of the Pan-American Health Organisation.
“The saying that those whom the gods love die young is hallowed in history and it is even surmised that the gods so love them that they wished to have their company in Elysium while they still bloom of youth,” Sir George, University of the West Indies’ chancellor, told the congregation. “The tragedy of death in those who have run the race and are old occasions for grief in part because of the length of time we have known them and got to appreciate their worth.
“When the young die we often mourn and grieve because the shortness of their lives leaves the sensation of promise unfulfilled; there is hope that has not been realised.
David Thompson died while he was yet so young, so individually and as a nation we grieve mainly because of the latter. He had given a strong and clear earnest of things to come.”
Organised by Barbados’ Ambassador in Washington John Beale and senior career foreign service officer David Bulbulia, the service gave Sir George and others a chance to go back in history and reflect on the past 44 years.
That also happened at the St Benedict’s Episcopal Church in Plantation Florida around the same time. Father Bernard Griffith, rector of Christ Episcopal Church in Coconut Grove, Miami, delivered the sermon, using Psalm 104, Verse 26, “There go the ships”, as the text. His message was clear: David was a master mariner who was adept at guiding the ship.
“There go the ships on the great and wide sea and every one of them is a floating parable,” Father Griffith said. “The sea is human life and the ships are human beings.
The winds and wave are the testings, the troubles, and the temptations that come our way.”
