Letter to the Editor: A time to weep, a time to build

The Editor: Today, we celebrate. We raise our flags. We sing our national songs. We remember our achievements. We rejoice in being a Republic. And rightly so.

But let us never become so intoxicated by celebration that we forget the journey that brought us here.

Every nation, like every human being, goes through seasons. There is a season of planting and harvesting, of crying and laughing, of breaking down and building up. Trinidad and Tobago has lived through many seasons.

The Bible tells us that humanity was created for something better, but sin entered the human story, and with it came suffering, injustice, pain and tears. Yet God did not abandon humanity.

Through Jesus Christ, God entered the human condition. He experienced hunger, rejection, betrayal, and suffering. He wept. He suffered. And ultimately, He sacrificed Himself for mankind.

He could not redeem humanity from a distance, He had to go through the pain. That same principle applies to nation-building. A nation becomes great when its people are willing to confront its painful ills.

Before Trinidad and Tobago became the Republic we know today, generations lived under colonial rule. Decisions about our future were made elsewhere. Then came Independence in 1962—a tremendous step towards self-government but the journey was not finished.

On August 1, 1976, Trinidad and Tobago became a Republic. Allegiance that had once been tied to a distant monarch was transferred to the people of Trinidad and Tobago, while our Republican Constitution established our own Head of State. That was more than a change in political structure. It was a declaration: we are responsible for ourselves. And that is why Republic Day must mean more than a public holiday.

A Republic is not simply a country without a king or queen. A Republic is a responsibility. So, when we celebrate Republic Day, we must also accept responsibility for what we have made of the country—and what we intend to make of it.

If our society is divided, what are we doing to heal it? If our young people are losing hope, what kind of country are we building for them? If crime threatens our communities, can we simply point fingers at politicians, parents, schools, or the police? If corruption exists, who permits it? If discrimination exists, who perpetuates it? If poverty exists alongside enormous wealth, what are we prepared to do about it?

We must all ask: What part of this Republic are we responsible for? Our ancestors did not struggle through generations of hardship so that we could inherit a Republic and simply complain about it.

They struggled so that we could build something better.

So today, while we dance, let us remember those who cried.

While we celebrate freedom, let us remember those who lived without it.

And while we wave our flag, let us remember that a flag is only cloth unless the people beneath it give meaning to the nation it represents.

Patriotism is not merely loving the country. Patriotism is accepting responsibility for the country. Perhaps we are in a season of construction. Now the question is: What will we do with our season?

The Bible gives us hope. It speaks of a time when God will wipe away every tear, and mourning, crying and pain will no longer have the final word. Our ancestors planted. We are harvesting. But now we must plant again for those coming after us. And when our children and grandchildren look back at this generation, may they be able to say: They inherited a troubled nation—but they did not surrender to its troubles. They inherited tears—but they planted hope. They inherited a Republic—but they made it better. Happy Republic Day, Trinidad and Tobago.

May our Republic never merely exist. But become all that God meant it to be.

— Dr Lester Philip