Proverbs 1: 8-10 Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.  My son, if sinners entice you, do not give in to them.

11 If they say, “Come along with us;
let’s lie in wait for someone’s blood,
let’s waylay some harmless soul;

12 let’s swallow them alive, like the grave,
and whole, like those who go down to the pit;

13 we will get all sorts of valuable things
and fill our houses with plunder;

14 throw in your lot with us,
and we will share a common purse”-

15 my son, do not go along with them,
do not set foot on their paths;

16 for their feet rush into sin,
they are swift to shed blood.

17 How useless to spread a net
in full view of all the birds!

18 These men lie in wait for their own blood;
they waylay only themselves!

19 Such is the end of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
it takes away the lives of those who get it.

Noun  1.    temptation – something that seduces or has the quality to seduce
enticement
influence – a cognitive factor that tends to have an effect on what you do; “her wishes had a great influence on his thinking”
forbidden fruit – originally an apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden; it is now used to refer to anything that is tempting but dangerous (as sexuality)
bait, come-on, lure, sweetener, hook – anything that serves as an enticement
allurement – attractiveness; “its allurement was its remoteness”
2.    temptation – the desire to have or do something that you know you should avoid; “he felt the temptation and his will power weakened”
desire – the feeling that accompanies an unsatisfied state
3.   temptation – the act of influencing by exciting hope or desire; “his enticements were shameless”
enticement
influence – causing something without any direct or apparent effort
wheedling, blandishment – the act of urging by means of teasing or flattery
leading astray, leading off – the act of enticing others into sinful ways
seduction – enticing someone astray from right behavior
allurement, solicitation – the act of enticing a person to do something wrong (as an offer of sex in return for money)

entice definition
en·tice (en tīs′, in-)
transitive verb enticed -·ticed′, enticing -·tic′·ing
to attract by offering hope of reward or pleasure; tempt; allure

The Bible – Proverbs 1: 8-19 NIV, Image Credit: Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bing Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling Bling by prawnpie, Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Via the media we have all witnessed the horrendous and tragic earthquake that has recently trampled over Haiti. The damage is so extensive that it is only a matter of time before a ‘state of emergency is declared’. Countries from all over the world have pledged millions towards the relief effort and on a local level, people throughout the world are organizing funding drives and the wealthy are pledging thousands to millions of dollars. Red Cross FEMA the military and other rescue organizations are already on the scene and more are expected to arrive. Haiti has received assistance that could total billions (between the years 2007-2010);  Prime Minister Obama has now pledged 100 million dollars to help them.

If I were in Haiti and/or had family and friends therein, I would pray that the world would hear our cries and come to our rescue by any means necessary. I would be thankful to all those who came to help without even knowing us. I would be thrilled to know that enough money has been received to assist us in rebuilding our land; put our lives back in order.

This has not been the case for the Haitian people and I cannot understand why.  So I have to ask: What did Haiti do with all the money? Should the governments of the receiving countries be trusted with such large sums of money? Is there any accountability process in place for all funds given and received?

I believe we are all responsible for each other; we are all one body of people scattered across the globe; I believe that there is no such thing as “there is nothing that I can do for you.” If I have half a loaf of bread, it is my responsibility to feed everyone in my family first. If my neighbour then knocks on my door and tells me he’s hungry, it is my responsibility to share my slice with him. If as he leaves he passes a homeless man it is his responsibility to share his slice with him and so on.

With that being said, why are so many governments sending millions of dollars that should be used to take care of their own people FIRST? America has yet to complete the rebuilding required from Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. It has yet to clean up low-income neighbourhoods and make homelessness and poverty a thing of the past. It has yet to rescue all families that have recently lost their homes to foreclosures or that are facing foreclosures; look at what 100 million dollars could have done for Americans!

When you donate, please, use an organization that is known to be financially responsible; ensure that your money is being used for what you intended; all donors and intended recipients have a right to said process.

I will continue to pray for the people of Haiti.

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: Wow – thank you! by Salvation Army USA West Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License, Hurricane Katrina by au_tiger01, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.

She said, “To err is human, to forgive divine. To forget is something I consider on a case to case basis; there are many occasions where I have forgiven and forgotten, however, if the individual still exhibits the past characteristics and will be an active part of my life, I remain vigilant; I don’t forget.”

He said – No! You can’t do that! You have to forget! That’s the whole point of forgiveness. If you are still holding on to the past then that isn’t forgiving. That’s so unfair to that person. That means you are being a hypocrite.

She said – I am a believer in the Bible and I don’t know of any passage in the Bible that tells me to forget. I choose to learn from the past and that may require that I do not forget that someone could still hurt me. It’s not unfair to that person! They must accept the consequences of their behaviour; they must accept that some people may not ever trust them again and I think that if their behaviour hasn’t changed, they shouldn’t be fully trusted.

He said – No! You have to give people a chance! You can’t hold the past over them! You have to forget! No one is perfect! The Bible says to forgive and forget!

She said – Let me give you an example of what I mean. As a child, two men in my family abused me, in one scenario I remembered vividly what had taken place. My mother later told me that since then, he had become saved. In the second scenario, I couldn’t remember what had happened at all, but I knew that he had abused me.

There came a time when I had to face them both. I went to the home of the first and as our eyes met, a peace came over me; I could see that this was not the same man that I knew as a child. He was different! In that moment, I completely forgave him and forgot about the past. I then had a lovely evening with him and the family. Over the years we kept in touch and when he died I cried. Remember, in this scenario, I had a vivid memory of the past.

When I met with the second (of whom I had no memory of the events), the moment I saw him I was overcome with a sick feeling in my stomach. He walked over to me with a smirk on his face. He then hugged me and squeezed my bottom; his behaviour was inappropriate and very disrespectful. The last time this man saw me I was but a child of only 10 years; this meeting was 22 years later. In that moment I decided to forgive him and to pray for him. However, because he had not changed his ways, I did not allow myself to forget the past thus opening the door for him to hurt me again and I did not maintain a friendship. A few years after my visit, he did the same to another family member during her visit. In spite of it all, I don’t hate him and I still pray for him. I also pray that one day I can forget.

He Said – I still think you are wrong. You are already making a decision that they’re never going to change. You have to give them a chance to change.

She said – Sorry but I don’t owe such people anything. I think in these circumstances “to forget is foolish.”

Now that you have listened in on a conversation, consider my dilemma…

The Bible says, “forgive as I have forgiven you.” So does God want us to forgive and forget in all cases even if it renders us as open prey for the wicked? Are we capable of forgiving on the same level as the Lord; he is perfect and we are not. According to the Bible did God really forget and forgive?

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All rights Reserved, Image Credit: IMG_0211 by Nick Skitch Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License, Slavery Museum by timbrauhn Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License, Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust during World War 2 in Public Domain.

Years ago my mother told me, “Nuh mek nuh baddy tell yuh seh yuh is African. Me was bawn inna Jamaica, an mi maddah and faddah was bawn inna Jamaica. Is ownly di slave dem come from Africa an we nuh ave no slave innna wi family; nuh badda mek dem pieson yuh mine. Read yuh Bible, it nuh seh nuttin bout nuh Africa! We black!” She, was born in 1928.

Of late, a friend said, “I’m no African Canadian so don’t call me that, I’m Jamaican or black. I didn’t come from Africa.” He was born and raised in Kingston Jamaica in the 70’s and arrived in Canada as a teen. Another friend stated, “I’m not black, I’m brown. Africans are black.” Another, “I’m no Negro, that and nigger are derogatory terms used by the white man. I’m an African-Canadian.”

Well, I decided to read my Bible and in order to find my origin, I began at the beginning; Genesis. I read about my eldest ancestor Adam (first man) and Eve (first woman) and their appearance. I read about their first home; Eden. It told in great detail exactly where it was and so using an ancient map, I looked it up. Then it spoke of a new beginning by way of a great flood and how later God scattered man “abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

I have thus concluded that my ancestry is African and I am Jamaican by birth. I am colored, brown or black if one is to describe the pigment of my skin. Now that I’ve become a Canadian citizen, I would be described as a Canadian of African decent; African Canadian. If you were to determine my race I would be a Negro. If one were to describe my skin pigment and heritage then I would be an African Black. If I were to trace back to my first ancestor I would be a descendant of Noah via Adam and Eve, who lived in Eden; Africa.

Who am I? A Negro, Person of Color, Colored, Black, African-Canadian, Afro-Caribbean, Caribbean Woman; derogatory, offensive, outdated, inaccurate or politically incorrect, I am not defined by words whether positive or negative; I know who I am and from whence I came. In the end, God defined me; “In the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

Written by Antoinette Forsythe Copyright © All Rights Reserved, Image Credit: world mosaic: a tribute to flickr portraits by pardeshi, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License.