Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Patriotism

I have seen patriotism in many forms and while I can't understand it, I can appreciate it.

Jamaica's 50th Independence Anniversary happened last year on Aug 6th and as such the entire country was a display of national pride. At church we sang the National Anthem as part of the service! I do love witnessing the national pride in Jamaica - the proud display of the colors, the lilt of patois  (I wished I spoke patois), and the incorporation of the green black and gold in to everything.

This year, I had the opportunity to visit the Bahamas, the country of my birth. It was my first time home in about 30 years. I had a flood of emotions while there: refreshing, relaxing, sad and scary all at once. The Bahamas is beautiful and small, and upon reflection I am glad I came from such a beautiful place.

I also had an opportunity to visit Barbados 4 years ago. While I was born in the Bahamas, my parents are from Barbados. Bajans (what Barbadians are called) have a very strong accent, so I primarily sound like a Bajan more than a Bahamian. As a child at school this was something to tease me about, and it sometimes made me have an identity crisis. When I visited Barbados, I felt like I had finally come home - the people sounded like me; I finally knew what I sounded like to others.

So, I married a Jamaican, who really loves his country. I was born in the Bahamas, my parents are from Barbados and I live in the United States. I have finally come to the realization that no one place is home for me because each place holds different memories and associations that I hold on to. National pride is evident in each of these countries.


Though I have a couple of earthly homes, I truly know that this world is not my home, and God truly out did Himself when he created such natural beauty in so many far flung places.


For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city in heaven, which is yet to come. Hebrews 13:14

Are you patriotic? Do you have a place that you call home? If you don't, how do you deal with it?



1 comment:

  1. Oh my, how I love this...you are speaking directly to me. Like you I have an allegiance to many places. I'm American but my heritage is St. Kitts and I too married a proud Jamaican! I have spent so much time in Jamaica that I feel like it's one of my homes. You are so right that I don't feel like I belong to any one place but a part of me belongs to all of them. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and for this post here. I feel like you are writing about me for me! I also love the blog name change...I am so sure that your brother would be proud!

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