I am a Gladys Knight fan. One of my favorite songs begins, “I’ve had my share of life’s ups and down.” Truth be told, my downs have been many, not few. Yet, today, as I reflect on those ups and downs, I say, “To God be the Glory!”
I was six years and two months old when I went home from Mass and told my mother that I was going to be a priest. I was channeled from that day towards priesthood. I entered seminary as a teenager. I was ordained a deacon at age twenty-three; the date of my priesthood was set when it was discovered that I was not old enough to be priested. So I waited six months, and was ordained a priest twelve days after my twenty-fourth birthday.
At age twenty-three, I began ordained ministry, in my native Guyana, assisting an older priest with five churches and two grammar schools. We then started to build another building to house a school and a church. From end to end, the parish was about thirty miles. At age twenty-six, I was on my own and in charge of two yoked parishes of five churches, two grammar schools, a hospital and a boys’ reform school. From end to end about thirty-five miles. My trusty motorcycle got me along those desolate dirt roads, in all kinds of weather, and at all hours. God kept me safe as I road those roads, many with rice fields and sugar cane fields, on either side.
Two things should be said at this point. Firstly, I give thanks to my father for teaching me my faith, what it means to be a Christian and how one develops a relationship with God. The other thing is that when I first thought of ordained ministry, I thought of a monastery and being a missionary. The reason that I mention this second is that in my youthful days in seminary, I realized that I needed to have a companion for life. In God’s time and in His way, I did become a missionary as I preached and taught in many parts of Asia, while still running my own Parish and administering thirty-two others as an Archdeacon. He also eventually gave me a good and wise companion in Debbie, who has journeyed with me so far for forty-two of these fifty-three years.
In the course of my life and ministry, I have learnt that the words of St. John are absolutely true; “In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God.” Ever since my father taught me to pray, I have been aware of the Presence of God in my life. But, when you have had Gethsemane experiences in your life, you are even more deeply aware of the Power of God and of your dependence on God. The Mystics are correct when they tell us that there is no crown without a cross.
The mistake that we sometimes make is that we forget that Jesus never promised us that if we believe in Him He will keep the storms of life away; His promise is to be present with us in the storms. Debbie and I have often spoken about an experience we had. Beginning Saturday, August 23, 2008, through the end of December 2010, we had 29 deaths of family members, or persons who were considered family members. Actually the first was the father of our ‘sister’ who was with us in Aruba with her husband and children when she received the phone call. A few hours later we received a call that Debbie’s aunt had died. We all flew back to the US that day, after only 30 hours of vacation. Those 29 deaths included Debbie’s mom, my older brother, and our 27-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer. I mention this because, if we did know God to be our Father, our Abba, and if we did not have a relationship with Him, we would never have survived. But God is good. We felt His Presence. Faith and Love gave us strength and hope to survive, and to look beyond the moment and the experience. I know that God does not abandon us. God will never abandon us. He is my God and my Abba. He loves me as much as He loves His Divine Son who is my Brother. He does not love Jesus more than He loves anyone of us. This is my faith.
I show my love for Him, and my gratitude, by my positive act of pledging to the support of His work in whatever Parish I find myself. Debbie and I actually pledge to three parishes. Ministry must continue, the Gospel must be proclaimed so that the love and mercy of God could be made known to those who still have not heard it, as well as to those who always need to be reminded of it.
The Rev. Canon Bernard Young
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