Just a Thought - 08/31/2020

Greetings to all in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While relaxing on my living room couch reflecting on this date in 1962 when Queen Elizabeth 2 visited Trinidad to mark the independence of our tiny nation from England, I felt prompted to share a thought with you.

I am not going to discuss my experience on that historic day when I stood with thousands of fellow elementary school children along a major city street waving the beautiful red, white and black standard of our new nation, but instead I am going to share a few important quotes made by important people on another very historic day - Today, August 31st, 2020.

Those of you who have seen the news this morning, would be familiar with the following, but please bear with me for the sake of those who may not have seen the latest critical Middle East News.

The context is the first ever Israeli airline plane that landed in the United Arab Emirates carrying a high level delegation to mark the occasion this morning. I am sure that you are all aware of the recent normalization of relations between Israel and the UAE. You might remember that I drew your attention to this in a previous post.

"For me to fly over here today was a tremendous honor. I believe that this agreement has the ability to change the whole course of the Middle East. I believe that this will open the door for further peace with other nations in the region." - Jared Kushner, President Trump's advisor and son-in-law who played a major role in brokering the peace agreement.

"The last decades we've had conflict and war and division, and what happened here was three great leaders came together and they started writing a new script for the Middle East" - Jared Kushner on the tarmac in front of the El Al plane at Abu Dhabi's airport.

"the future doesn't have to be pre-determined by the past. We realized that most people want the same thing. They want the ability to live a better life. They want a better job. They want to live in peace and we're all sons of the same God." - Jared Kushner

"We expect peace to be strengthened by other agreements." - Meir Ben Shabbat, head of Israel's National Security

" We believe that additional Arab and Muslim countries will soon follow the United Arab Emirates' lead and normalize relations with Israel. This trend will put the region on a truly transformative path of stability, security and opportunity." - Robert O'Brien, United States National Security Advisor.

"This agreement represents the most significant step towards peace in the Middle East in over 25 years. At long last, nations are putting aside old ideas and old grievances and embracing a better future....of shared interests and shared goals." - Robert O'Brien

"Working together, the UAE and Israel will be more secure than ever. Together they will form a united front with the United States against Iran." - Robert O'Brien

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu watched the events in the UAE from his office in Jerusalem, but contacted the pilot of the El Al flight after the landing to send his greetings:

"You are now about to open the door to a different kind of peace - peace with investments, peace with tourism, peace with very many fruits that will be shared with our two peoples and with all the peoples of the region," - Benjamin Netanyahu

"This is a gigantic and historic blessing. This is an historic day. I have worked on it for very many years in the belief that peace for peace would bring about a great turning point here , and that the Arab peoples are capable of accepting the State of Israel as an existing fact and as a major partner." - Benjamin Netanyahu

"But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say "peace and safety!" then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief. You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as others do, but let us watch and be sober." - Paul, the apostle, 1 Thessalonians 5: 1-6

Just a Thought

Pastor Chandroo