Dear Editor,
I am slowly recovering from the affliction of COVID-19 and spend my time mostly in bed. My energy level is not all there yet. Some days are good and other days bring their own problems. I am not getting much sleep at night and feel tired most of the time. I am off work ill but I give thanks for life. Voice of the Diaspora will return in early February, (God spare life) and my work here will continue, (God’s willing).
I grew up in church like many of us who did not have a choice. Your parents took you and it was drilled into you from infancy that it is a revered and holy place. I owe the church a debt of gratitude for teaching me to love humanity and to have respect for and cherish the sanctity of life. I could not have become a criminal because I do not believe in hurting humans. My formative years saw me in the house of the Assembly of God, the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witness and in the church of Seventh Day Adventist. Death is inevitable. Yet I give thanks for life knowing we all must go at some juncture. I would like to think that I am not afraid but life is beautiful as the great and good souls we have been blessed to meet along the way.
Religion seems to drive the fear of death into humans. It is a cruel thing to do. It is said that the fear of death appears to be worse than death itself. But I suppose that the thought of burning in hell fire for an eternity can cause one to be terrified of dying. But the hypocrisy abounds. I once bumped into a pastor and another man’s wife in a hotel in Georgetown. He looked at me and I looked back at him. Deep in the innermost part of my soul I wondered if he really believed that Hell and its eternal damnation existed because the husband of that woman he was with worked hard for that church and worshipped the ground that pastor walked on.
I was once in a group conversation with the slighted husband and I deliberately levelled a criticism at the pastor. He became animated and angry. He told me not to touch the Lord’s anointed nor do his sons any harm or terrible things would happen to me. Hell is real he told me. I thought to myself that heaven must be too. He just had to ask his wife.
Kindest regards
Norman K. Browne
