---

We hear the question, "Just what is going on?" Many wonder out loud, "What is happening in the island of Bermuda!"

Well, I have a different question for you, "Are you prepared to hear the answer to your question and the response to your query?"

Well, Bermuda is merely experiencing what happens when young people lose the ability to seek God for the answers to their questions.

How can they seek answers from a God they have never been introduced to?

Actually, the truth of the matter is that some have actually been introduced to God, but have decided, made a choice, to go their own way.

We are not the first people to experience the effect of what happens when young males decide to do their own thing.

Let's go back to the first family of the Word of God and see a picture of what we face.

Genesis 4:8 And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

9 And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?

10 And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

Can you imagine it? Only one family in existence in the world and yet still one brother managed to build up a hatred for his brother. This immense and intense hatred led to one brother killing the other.

Cain and Abel were brothers, blood brothers. They came from the same parents and the same house, but they were opposite in personality.

Both of these young males (probably young black males) learned to worship God through their father Adam's example. Recall that when Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden they communed with God on a daily basis.

You can imagine that the relationship Adam forged with God was unique and special. Hence, Adam would have continued to worship God even though he was not permitted to 'talk' with God as he did before he sinned.

People of Bermuda, sin indeed separates mankind from God, and the existence of sin makes it a more tedious journey - the journey of worship to God.

Cain and Abel also worshipped. They had the same parents, same house, but different worship.

They worshipped differently because they were different. Cain was the labourer, the tiller of the ground, while Abel was the manager who tended to the flock.

When it came to offering God sacrifice or worship, the inner personalities of the brothers clearly emerged. Cain gave of the fruit of the ground; his sacrifice never knew pain and therefore never knew the feeling of dying before the Lord God (it was vegetation). Abel's offering was that of an animal which would certainly experience pain, as its life-blood was given as atonement for the life of Abel.

Simply put, God preferred Abel's offering. Now here is the real problem; God was not angry with Cain. As a matter of fact, God encouraged Cain to learn the lesson and to do better the next time.

Yet, because of Cain's temperament, he would not even heed God's advice. That was actually the real problem with the offering Cain gave. He gave the wrong offering out of the wrong heart; he was angry. And Bermuda, when you are dealing with angry young males who have a problem with themselves, they will not turn on themselves. No, they will turn on another brother.

The bottom line is that when there is no true relationship with God through service and worship, it is very easy for sin to 'lie at the door' (Genesis 4:7).

In other words, when the sun goes down and the wrath of the males is not abated, the next day will emerge and there will be murder in the hearts and eyes of those males.

These murders result in blood, burial, and a bellowing of voices from the dead. There is no rest in peace. Mothers are crying, girlfriends are screaming, and children are left fatherless.

There is no easy path to the remedy for the woes in this wonderful paradise. It all begins at the beginning.

Parents must teach their children how to worship; that is, teach them how to have a relationship with God, and then hope and prayer that they are not influenced later on to the point where they ignore what they have learned.

The only way back to peace is for people to return to God and learn what it is to be angry and sin not (Ephesians 4:26).

Bermuda has come a long way, away from the things of God. What are you truly willing to do to save this little island in the middle of the Atlantic? Respice finem.

Dr. Maria A. Seaman is the Pastor of Shekinah Worship Centre, currently worshipping at The Victor Scott Primary School Auditorium, Glebe Road, Pembroke.

[[In-content Ad]]

---