Anglican Bishop: Pray, show kindness during election season

Anglican Bishop Claude Berkley says believers should pray and reflect during the ongoing election season. He said conversations should be respectful and not derogatory.

He was speaking to the congregation at Palm Sunday celebrations at the Holy Trinity Cathedral, Port of Spain, on April 13.

He said TT is in "political season" and that history would "record the strategic manoeuvres of all our political parties and the candidates...

"And the analysts will tell us what strategies and what moves worked or didn't work. And we will all see and hear about this in the fullness in that week which unfolds after (April) 28...Some matters which we didn't consider now."

He said whether people are following politics or not, they will hear "in fullness" about it after the election.

"(We will hear) who should have done this, who should have done that, 'They should not have done this thing...'"

But he asked, "In the meantime, what are the people of God to be doing?

"You and I, we are to be praying, we are to be reasoning, we are to be reflecting. We are to be sharing thoughts about what does God want for our country at this stage. And certainly, it is not just about TT – it is about the world picture."

He said it is also about the Ukraine-Russia and Israel-Palestine wars, as well as the tariffs imposed by the US.

"It is about what we think about glory and peace. What can peace and glory look like for us today?

"Our world is in a fever. Well, you might say, yes, it was always in a fever. But you might say, since some time, someone or some group have created further upheaval. And we must not make the mistake to think that it is far away from us."

All of these things are connected, he said. And this is because, "The Bible gives us a certain principle – a principle that God made us and we are made to live in fellowship one with the other...

"And that is right where the problem begins because somewhere along the line, we presume ourselves to be better than the other.

"If we all had the same features, same height and everything and we were put in this compound, believe me, in a short time, we will find a way to distinguish who is superior to whom, who is better than whom, and whose complexion, nose, lips, height, feet, something distinguishes you so we could go on the stage."

He reiterated the need for prayer for the election season, adding that believers must have conversations about what is reasonable and what God is trying to decipher.

"What is God calling us to do in this beautiful country of TT? That is our point of discernment.

"We certainly are not to get into speaking derogatively about others, about descending between our regular sphere of behaviour and using terms and words which denigrate others."

He said while there is an ongoing debate and that discussions about politics often include persuasion, be reminded that Jesus went to Jerusalem to persuade people to follow the "principles of the kingdom.

"And certainly, he would not have used certain words or he would not have gone into a certain kind of denigration of the human factor, but indeed, to seek to persuade, to show the facts, the reason, the purpose, the benefit to those to whom he was speaking."

He concluded, "Certainly, we are to face opposition, plot, counter-plot, influencers, and much more. But that is also true of our journey to salvation, of our receipt, rather, of the salvation that Christ has won for us."