The Tribune

By Bishop Simeon B Hall

Someone once asked me why angels don’t appear as commonly as they did in biblical days. My response: because God has now given them a human face. Angles are now white, black, Conchy Joe, PLP, FNM, Baptist, Anglican et cetera.

Scholars who wrestle with systematic theology embrace the truth that divine revelation is progressive. We still believe our Creator uses spirit beings to do His work, but since Christ’s incarnational presence, God now uses human beings to perform angelic actions so that His kingdom might come on earth as it is being done in heaven.

The reverend Dr Colin Archer underscores this truth frequently when he states, “We are spirit beings trying to be human.”

Sir Durward Knowles became a centenarian in recent days, and the little I know about him, he might frown on being called an angel, but I pray he would accept the widespread view held by many that his actions have been angelic.

Numerous pastors, laymen and common persons tell of how Sir Durward’s “visitation” in their time of need rescued them from a quagmire of pain and desperation.

According to Christ, Christian faith is not evidence in the volume of our pronouncements, but rather in practicality of what we do for the least, the lost and the left out.

Some years ago, Sir Durward struck a discordant note among the “white community” when he publicly admitted that some white Bahamians had benefited from the inequities in our history and he offered an apology.

Furthermore, the lofty ideals of “one Bahamas” is not philanthropy, sports and social work. The high goals of one Bahamas are:

Believe in the supremacy of God

Believe in the fundamental rights and freedom of the individual

Believe in family, neighbourhood and national pride

Believe in national unity as necessary to the prosperity of country

These are not unachievable goals. Perhaps they will not be reached in Sir Durward’s lifetime, but God knows we as a nation should seriously strive for them.

I salute this kind of human being for his angelic actions.