Are you ready to be the next Hero? How are you represented on the bell curve around the World?
Teneisha Johnson
Licensing Officer at Cayman Islands Department of Vehicles and Driver's License
Nobody really wakes up and say, “Today I am going to save the world!”
Many of us are just too tired, stressed-out and ridiculously annoyed with various affairs in our life to add additional duties to our ever-expanding list of community goodwill. Lol!
Don’t get me wrong, I like to acknowledge people in our community who clearly are deserving of recognition, but I know many of them were not doing it for recognition in the first place, they were really just being who they inherently were created to be.
Many times, in life we might have committed to do something in our community and our commitment started with a “bang” but along the way we encountered obstacles like discouragement, rejection, suffered poor self-esteem, sickness, financial struggles or even spiritual warfare.
Renewal of Ezekiel’s Call as Watchman (Ezekiel Chapter 33: 1-20)
1 The word of the Lord came to me:
2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,
3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,
4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.
5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.
6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
7 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.
8 When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood.
9 But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?”
11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
12 “Therefore, son of man, say to your people, ‘If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.’
13 If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done.
14 And if I say to a wicked person, ‘You will surely die,’ but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right—
15 if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil—that person will surely live; they will not die.
16 None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
17 “Yet your people say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But it is their way that is not just.
18 If a righteous person turns from their righteousness and does evil, they will die for it.
19 And if a wicked person turns away from their wickedness and does what is just and right, they will live by doing so.
20 Yet you Israelite’s say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ But I will judge each of you according to your own ways.”
But how many of you know that with the Holy Spirit you can make it?
I have learnt that unclean spirits, without exception and regardless of their names or where they act, are all agents of death.
But how can you distinguish between the Spirit of God and the spirits of the devil if many of them talk about love, light and good works?
Here is one clue:
• Demonic spirits always cause problems that deprive people of any joy, especially on special occasions. In fact, they never allow their followers to have peace. The Holy Spirit, however, is peace. He rejoices when we are happy. It is written,
“For the joy of the Lord is my strength” Nehemiah 8:10
We must learn how to bind the strong man in our lives.
Jesus gave us his authority over the devil and his evil cohorts, yet I have learnt that we must be motivated to use it if we want to see results.
Let us consider what Jesus taught his followers:
In the book of Matthew Chapter 16:19, it says,
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
To bind evil spirits means to restrain them by addressing them directly and forbidding them to continue their destructive activity.
Through the power of the Holy Spirit, our words will weaken or remove the person from the enemy’s bondage and in prayer we then ask the Holy Spirit to minister to his or her needs.
Our prayers should then be directed to God, and our warfare at the enemy.
According to the authors, Quin Sherrer & Ruthanne Garlock of A Woman’s Guide to Spiritual Warfare, this tactic of binding evil spirits is especially effective when praying in agreement with a prayer partner.
The following is a hypothetical story to illustrate how we can become more effective in our everyday life:
Cadia is a spiritual warrior who’s learned to use this important tactic. One day she went to visit her twenty-year-old daughter Lisa, who had gone away to college. Not finding her at her designated residence, she went on in.
Appalled at the mess she found, she began to clean the apartment-straightening, dusting, sweeping, and scrubbing. She even cooked a meal, then washed all the dirty clothes lying around.
She knew her daughter was still adjusting to college life, but she was shock that her normally tidy and preppy daughter would have allowed her apartment to be reduced to such a deplorable state.
While putting things in order, Cadia found a bundle of torn and bloody undergarments amongst a small bag of “unknown substance” beside a used syringe and a small hand gun. It had one bullet in it.
At that moment, Cadia knew her daughter’s intent was to shoot herself and based on the evidence, the reason was obvious.
As a mother in the natural, she was devastated, but as a prayer warrior in the spirit, she was furious!
At that very moment, Cadia began to do serious spiritual battle for her daughter’s life.
She said,
“Thank you, Lord, for giving us authority to use your name to set captives free. I plead the blood of Jesus over Lisa, and ask you to protect her life.
I come against the strong man of rejection operating against my daughter, and bind your power over my daughter in Jesus’ name.
I come against the spirit of suicide, you will not have my daughter.
I come against the spirit of deception and psychosis, you will not have my daughter.
I bind all spirits of rejection, madness, hate, anger, murder, and suicide, in Jesus’ name.
I bind all unclean spirits associated with drug abuse, rape and chaos, and cut Lisa loose from past hurts and from unhealthy relationships.
I command the spirits that are binding and controlling her to release her, in Jesus’ name.
Lord, let your peace permeate her apartment. Show Lisa how much you love her and desire to set her free from the bondage of the enemy.
Thank you, Lord, for protecting her life and drawing her into fellowship with you in Jesus’ name.
Amen”.
Cadia then began singing and filling the apartment with praises to the Lord as she continued to cook and clean.
Before leaving that day, she left a note:
“Lisa- I did this today because I love you. No strings attached. Mom”.
A few weeks went by before Lisa decided to visit her mom in person and upon arrival her mother noticed she had lost weight and seemed nervous.
But Cadia did not judge or harass her daughter because she knew if she had not prayed for her daughter’s deliverance and shown unconditional love, her daughter might not have been alive today.
Perhaps one day her daughter will find the courage to share her story and seek professional help.
For now, she was glad Lisa had come home for the holidays. Cadia also knew she was greatly missed by her friends in the community and at church.
Many people go to church just for the service- the feast, or ceremony- and some go to meet with God.
Some go only for the lavish worship while some truly worship by the Spirit of God.
Some people go to church because they like the pastor’s eloquent and obviously gifted way with words, while some people truly need to hear from God.
I have learnt that sometimes God remains silent and withholds communication in order for Him to receive the glory once a promise has been fulfilled.
Have you heard of prophetic jealousy?
It’s similar to professional jealously and I believe it exist among those who have a reputation for being gifted with a word of knowledge, or prophecy.
I strongly believe that people who are known for their prophetic gift sometimes are placed under pressure to perform and maybe also pressured to deliver ‘a word from the Lord’.
After-all the people expect it!
Then after a while their followers or the people in the congregation take it for granted and if someone other than their leader has a word that doesn’t include them – or confirm them- they are often ungracious or downright hateful.
Many may say, “It can’t be from God, or I would know”.
God was powerfully at work in Jerusalem and Jesus was the center of it all.
Not even his own parents- or those who knew him best- were aware of what was happening.
Hear me when I say, God can use you yesterday, but remain silent today.
He can use me today, but speak through someone else tomorrow.
It may be someone everybody has heard of- but don’t particularly like or even someone who no one has heard.
Why? God is sovereign.
Being used by God does not require any of the following:
Ed.D. – (Doctor of Education), Th.D. (Doctor of Theology), Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy), LL.D. (Doctor of Laws) or any other sophisticated titles we all have sacrificed to attain.
See my previous article: Are you wasting your time? (The Age Clock Concept: In Time with your Lifespan)
I believe it’s important to have a purpose in life and as soon as you have figured it out-get moving!
The Bell Curve
The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life is a 1994 book by psychologist Richard J. Herrnstein and political scientist Charles Murray, in which the authors argue that human intelligence is substantially influenced by both inherited and environmental factors and that it is a better predictor of many personal dynamics, including financial income, job performance, birth out of wedlock, and involvement in crime than are an individual’s parental socioeconomic status. They also argue that those with high intelligence, the “cognitive elite”, are becoming separated from those of average and below-average intelligence. The book was controversial, especially where the authors wrote about racial differences in intelligence and discussed the implications of those differences.
According to my recent studies, the normal curve, also known as THE BELL CURVE because of its unique shape, is said to be shaped like a bell and is often the way in which certain characteristics such as intelligence, weight or height may be represented in the population.
The highest point on the curve typically represents the average score in any distribution.
Now distributions aren’t always normal in shape, just like people! Lol!
Some distributions are described as skewed. This occurs when the distribution is not even on both sides of a central score with the highest frequency.
Instead some scores are concentrated toward one side of the distribution.
For example, we might observe a study of people’s water drinking habits and it eventually reveals that most people drink between 4 and 8, 16 oz bottles of water daily, with no one drinking more than 8 bottles.
So, you may be asking, how does the above information tie into my message?
Well, if we were to start sieving through an enormous pile of professional profiles of people in our community who have been nominated for awards on Heroes day next year, one of the requirements should be- how have they used their intelligence to make a difference in their community.
Cayman Islands
National Heroes Day is a public holiday celebrated in the Cayman Islands on the fourth Monday in January.
Unlike other National Heroes Days in the Caribbean, the same people aren’t always celebrated on this day each year.
Instead, a committee comprised of public and private sector representatives meet to choose the theme for the following year’s holiday.
Different award categories are then established and the public is then allowed to nominate suitable individuals.
The National Heroes Day committee is then entrusted with the awesome but serious responsibility of deciding on all who are deserving recipients of the awards. Cool!
The theme chosen for 2018 was sports, with members of the public being invited to nominate people in the community who had made outstanding contributions to sports in the Cayman Islands.
The theme chosen for 2017 was Tourism,
honoring the important role that the business sector plays in the economy of the Cayman Islands, and the 2016 theme was agriculture with over 300 people being honored for their contribution to farming in the Cayman Islands.
National Heroes Day has been a public holiday in the Cayman Islands since 2003.
Jamaica
Every third Monday of October is National Heroes Day in Jamaica. This public holiday is dedicated to the memory of Jamaica’s seven official national heroes.
On National Heroes Day, six heroes and one heroine will still be remembered for their heroic deeds that led to greater freedom and economic growth and prosperity for their homeland.
For example, Alexander Bustmante was Jamaica’s first prime minister. Three other heroes were hanged after leading revolts against oppression and “social injustice”. And heroine “Nanny of the Maroons” led a group in resistance and raids against the British colonialists. Wow!
See the following link for more information: https://jis.gov.jm/information/heroes/
Jamaica celebrates Independence on August 6 each year, in commemoration of its first Independence Day on August 6, 1962. The period leading up to the public holiday is crammed with parties and activities celebrating the island’s culture.
For more exciting and educational information about the beautiful Island of Jamaica see my previous article:
Rwanda
Guess what else is happening around the world?
Every 1st February is National Heroes Day in Rwanda and it is a day selected to remember numerous officially designated national heroes who lost their lives in the cause of their country.
Rwanda’s previous flag was a red-yellow-green tricolor with a large black letter “R” (to distinguish it from the otherwise identical Flag of Guinea). Derived from the flag of Ethiopia, the colors green, yellow, and red represented peace; the nation’s hope for its development; and the people.
What does the Rwandan flag mean?
Now the green is symbolic of the country’s prosperity, the yellow is symbolic of potential and real economic development, and the blue is symbolic of happiness and peace. The sun and its rays are said to represent enlightenment. Awesome!
I have learnt that Rwanda is a country with a diverse culture and rich heritage. The Rwandan cuisine is famous all-over East Africa, with its signature East African dish – Ugali and vegetables. Yum-Yum in my tummy!
How wealthy is Rwanda?
Rwanda is reported to have the 35th-highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) among African countries (20.32 million International dollars).
The top 10 African countries by GDP (PPP) are: Africa, Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa, Algeria, Morocco, Angola, Sudan, Ethiopia, Tanzania. Wow!
France
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the flag of France (French: Drapeau français) is a tricolor flag featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red.
It is known to English speakers as the French Tricolour or simply the Tricolour (French: Tricolore).
The Tricolour has become one of the most influential flags in history, with its three-colour scheme being copied by many other nations, both in Europe and the rest of the world.
The royal government used many flags, the best known being a blue shield and gold fleur-de-lis (the Royal Arms of France) on a white background, or state flag. Early in the French Revolution, the Paris militia, which played a prominent role in the storming of the Bastille, wore a cockade of blue and red, the city’s traditional colours.
According to French general Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, white was the “ancient French colour” and was added to the militia cockade to create a tricolour, or national, cockade.
This cockade became part of the uniform of the National Guard, which succeeded the militia and was commanded by Lafayette.
The colours and design of the cockade are the basis of the Tricolour flag, adopted in 1790. The only difference was that the 1790 flag’s colours were reversed. A modified design by Jacques-Louis David was adopted in 1794.
The royal white flag was used during the Bourbon restoration from 1815 to 1830; the tricolour was brought back after the July Revolution and has been used ever since 1830.
The French National Day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789, a turning point of the French Revolution, as well as the Fête de la Fédération which celebrated the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790. Celebrations are held throughout France.
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin
The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin was one of many world landmarks illuminated in the French flag colors after the November 2015 Paris attacks.
Hundred Years of War
During the Hundred Years’ War, England was recognized by a red cross, Burgundy, a red saltire, and France, a white cross.
This cross could figure either on a blue or a red field. The blue field eventually became the common standard for French armies. The French regiments were later assigned the white cross as standard, with their proper colors in the cantons.
The French flag of a white cross on a blue field is still seen on some flags derived from it, such as those of Quebec and Martinique.
The flag of Joan of Arc during the Hundred Years’ War is described in her own words,
“I had a banner of which the field was sprinkled with lilies; the world was painted there, with an angel at each side; it was white of the white cloth called ‘boccassin’; there was written above it, I believe, ‘JHESUS MARIA’; it was fringed with silk.”
Joan’s standard led to the prominent use of white on later French flags.
From the accession of the Bourbons to the throne of France, the green ensign of the navy became a plain white flag, the symbol of purity and royal authority. The merchant navy was assigned “the old flag of the nation of France”, the white cross on a blue field.
The Panthéon
The Panthéon is a building in the Latin Quarter in Paris, France. It was originally built as a church dedicated to St. Genevieve and to house the reliquary châsse containing her relics but, after many changes, now functions as a secular mausoleum containing the remains of distinguished French citizens.
The Panthéon houses the ashes of Les Grands Hommes de la Nation. Illustrious French citizens from all walks of life – politicians, writers, defenders of the nation – are buried here upon approval by the French president.
In 1885, when the ashes of Victor Hugo were brought there in honor of that great man after the national outpouring of emotion caused by his death, the Pantheon became the final resting place of those who have become known as Les Grands Hommes (The Great Men).
The Panthéon is also home, in its immense entrance hall, to Foucault’s pendulum, named after a French physicist, designed to demonstrate the Earth’s rotation in relation to a frame of reference by Galileo. Cool!
72 illustrious personalities reside there today:
Among them:
– Jean Jaurès (1859-1914), the father of French socialism, assassinated in 1914.
– Emile Zola (1840-1902), an important writer and journalist.
– Jean Moulin (1841-1941), a hero of the French Resistance during the Second World War.
– André Malraux (1901-1976), writer and minister for Culture, whose ashes were brought there in 1996.
– Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870), an important popular writer, whose ashes were brought there in 2002.
– Jean Monnet (1888-1979), a politician who worked to create the European Community in the wake of World War II.
– René Cassin (1887-1976), the spiritual father and principal author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the UN in 1948.
– Pierre (1859-1906) and Marie (1867-1934) Curie, Nobel prizewinners for physics for their work with radium.
What was the Pantheon used for?
Roman Pantheon. The Roman Pantheon is the most preserved and influential building of ancient Rome. It is a Roman temple dedicated to all the gods of pagan Rome. As the brick stamps on the side of the building reveal it was built and dedicated between A.D 118 and 125.
What is the pantheon made of?
The Pantheon that Hadrian created is a circular temple made of concrete faced with brick, with a Greek-style façade and a magnificent dome rising from its walls. The most striking feature of the building is the 27-foot circular hole (the oculus, or eye) atop the dome.
What does the pantheon symbolize?
The Pantheon is still discussed today as a building clouded in mystery. The original purpose of the building is unknown. Although the temple is dedicated to all Greek gods the scale and size of the temple emphasized power and Roman duty. There is also celestial symbolism present in the temple.
What does the pantheon say above?
Above the entrance, carved in stone, are the words M. AGRIPPA L. F. COS. TERTIUM FECIT which is translated, “Marcus Agrippa, son of Lucius, in his third consulate, made it.” This basically says that “Agrippa built the Pantheon.”
Here is some history that I was pleased to locate:
In 1744, Louis XV decreed the building of a prestigious basilica in honor of Sainte-Geneviève to whom he attributed his healing after a serious illness.
The architect Soufflot was awarded the project in 1755. This project was also part of the political will of Louis XV. The basilica had to rival that of Saint Peter’s in Rome and above all re-establish the prestige of a divided church.
Soufflot placed the basilica in a monumental square in the very heart of the area of religious contestation, where the Jansenists officiated at Saint-Médard.
The architecture of the basilica is a sign of the architectural renewal and experimental research that was prevalent at the time and during the centuries of the Enlightenment.
Indeed, the ornamental vocabulary and the central plan in the shape of a Greek cross were inspired by ancient Greek architecture, the lightness of the structure of the vault is evocative of gothic art and the dome speaks of the Renaissance. The light entered through forty-five tall windows.
During the Revolution: the basilca become the Panthéon National.
In 1791, the basilica became the Panthéon National to house the ashes of the nation’s great men: Voltaire in 1791, Jean-Jacques Rousseau in 1794, great men from the century of Enlightenment whose writing contributed to the changes wrought by the Revolution.
The high windows were also sealed to emphasize its role as a tomb. Very interesting.
When all is said and done, I like learning and I like sharing what I have learnt.
