Letter To The Editor

Mr. Colville Petty,OBE
C/o The Anguillian Newspaper
P.O.Box 98
The Valley
Anguilla

Dear Mr. Petty,

Ever since the time of my residency in Anguilla (left in 1998) I have been an admirer of your wit, though at times I have had to admit that it was somewhat irreverent. That aside I have found you to be a true wordsmith and your social commentary, delivered via the vehicle of humor, to be rather penetrating. One of your recent installments, (“I Go To Prepare… And I Will Come Again,” publishing date: 10.12.2004) was superlative in its class.

As a member and minister of the Seventh-day Adventist Church I received your evaluation of “my” church with a great sense of satisfaction and even pride. Not of the ‘puffed up’ sort, but of the sort that God would have us have when we are genuinely pleased that who we are and what we are about has been truly perceived and is appreciated. Your candor in writing as you have speaks volumes for who you are and that you are secure enough in who you are not to be threatened by the implications of the truth. That often comes with age, although regrettably not to all.

A recent news item provides a notable parallel and speaks well to the point I am developing. One does not need to share Cuban president Fidel Castro’s political ideology to recognize and admit that in this particular matter he has shown rare courage. Undoubtedly due to his influence, his nation has taken the much unexpected step, implemented on February 7, to ban “smoking in air-conditioned public buildings, theaters, schools, sports centers, buses and taxis as part of a health initiative.” Among the reasons this is noteworthy, as I am sure you know, is that Cuba is world famous for its cigars, the sales of which have been a chief income earner for the country for decades. Further, Mr. Castro was, according to the article, “once a cigar-chomping revolutionary,” before giving up the practice in1986. Of his one time habit Mr. Castro now speaks with unequivocal frankness. He is reported to have said “tobacco is poison and boxes of cigars are best given to one’s enemies.” To be truly a person of integrity one’s “talk” must be supported by one’s “walk.”

Mr. Petty, the profusion of biblical allusions and at times quotes, in your writing I believe demonstrate that you have paid considerable attention to “the book” in your lifetime. As such you would be familiar, I am sure, with the passage which says, ‘For by thy words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” Matthew 12:37.

As was your prayer for my church, my prayer for you is for your well being, not just temporal, but eternal. I pray that these words of yours so well written and received by me and highly appreciative Seventh-day Adventists in Anguilla and wherever The Anguillian is read, will serve in God’s judgment for your “justification” and not your “condemnation.”

You alluded to a passage of Scripture, John 14:1-3, in your parting lines. Those verses contain a promise most cherished by Christian believers, that one day soon, this same Jesus who suffered on a cross for our sins; was buried in a borrowed tomb, but rose triumphantly from the dead and was received into heaven, shall so come in the “clouds of glory” to receive us unto Himself that where He is there we may be also. That, sir, I believe is something that we should all look forward to and live for in full integrity. It would seem so logical that having admired us from the “outside” for standing steadfastly for right principles you would now join us, to “serve” your country from the “inside” to continue making the positive difference of which you wrote.

Pastor Glendon Cross