Bahamas: ...the men and the women with the stone-cold hearts now run things in this stone-cold hard place

“…stone-cold…”
By Felix F. Bethel.
Rough Cut
jonesbahamas


That these are hard times is no longer a question that needs to be put; it is self-evident that the times are hard; that men and women are getting harder and harder by the day.

And for sure, there is no getting around the fact that there are men and women in our land who have succumbed to the mystery of evil and who –as a consequence- have hearts that have become petrified.

As a consequence, some of these brothers and sisters of mine have become stone-cold hard in their hearts and in their minds and in their spirits – and thus that litany of bloody crimes they commit against their neighbors, family and friends.

The core fact today is that where we have sown corruption, we now reap perversions in the guise of rape, robbery, pillage and artful pilferage by the rich from the poor; and by the poor from the rich… and the bloody beat goes on.

Where parents once ate of sour grapes, today, their children’s teeth are on edge… and the bloody beat goes on.

Evidently, as I age and rage at how fast time seems to be moving, I sometimes find myself wondering about whether I will ever have time enough to do this or to do that; to witness this or to achieve that…

And for sure, whenever this mood creeps in and threatens to infest my mind with a plethora of regrets, I remember the fact that I am promised no day but this one; and that in this one, I should do all that I can; this because I can be gone in a moment and in a twinkling of an eye.

And on occasions when things seem especially rough, I remind myself that the real struggle – the really real struggle; indeed the struggle that matters most is that struggle spoken of in the scriptures, where we are admonished to be still and know that, “…For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]…”

And when I remember my own wrestling struggles with some of the darker forces within this carcass that is mine; I tremble with the knowledge that I too have sinned and that I too have fallen far from the mark; but yet even as I struggle and fall; I pick myself and my tired shadow up and get back into the fray where I work and toil to help pay my way in this wicked world; this because it is so very true that, “…we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]…”

Here you might well be interested in this apparently unrelated announcement: Police are appealing for information to assist investigations into all matters criminal.

Anyone with any information should call police on 919 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 328-TIPS (8477).

And now, some news from that road that led to Golgotha. “…But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children…”

Notwithstanding the Rabbi’s request, women continue to wail and lament as Jesus is crucified in these barbaric times.

Here you might wish to note that just this Tuesday past, I thought to myself that I should pass by the place where Joseph Tynes sat and where –as he sat there with a friend, perhaps in that moment, talking about this or that- some thug; some imp; some twisted brother or sister – some armed and dangerous person; some cold-hearted beast evidently decided that Joseph Tynes and his good friend should be killed.

As one newspaper report puts a particularly morbid story: “…A CONVENIENCE store owner was shot in the head by an armed robber outside his shop in Fire Trail Road…”

The man who was shot in the head is dead.

Anyone with any information should call police on 919 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 328-TIPS (8477).

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

Note also that, this yesterday-evening killing marked the 73rd murder this year in this place that is home to us all. What a stink-hole of a place! What a bloody mess!

But back to the man who was shot, the word today is to the effect that, “…the man, unofficially identified as shop-owner Joseph Tynes, was sitting outside his establishment with another man when the gunman approached…” And as it is in most of these nasty matters, I am told that, “…The robber stole cash and jewellery from the pair before he shot Mr Tynes in the head and got away…”

This is precisely how police press liaison officer Sgt Chrislyn Skippings put the matter when the question was put to her; that question having to do with what might have transpired in the seconds before Joseph Tynes was blasted into eternity by way of a gun-shot wound to the head.

I told you before and I tell you again; this is a nasty, messed up place. It is also that kind of place where men and women with stone-cold hearts have been put in high positions; perches from which they swoop down and prey upon Innocence.

Police are appealing for information to assist investigations into all matters criminal.

Anyone with any information should call police on 919 or call Crime Stoppers anonymously on 328-TIPS (8477).

But Jesus turning unto them said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children.

But back to Skippings and her report about the man who was shot dead; the word from this woman-police officer says that, this woman would not confirm the age or identity of the man as police investigations into the murder were in their initial stages.

But clearly, a whole lot of people – some of them family, neighbors and friends knew that the man who was killed was their own Joseph Tynes. That is why they could identify him as the owner of the Morning Star Convenience Store in Fire Trail Road, off the Tonique Williams-Darling Highway in southwest New Providence.

This is the place I passed the other night while – out of morbid curiosity- I wanted to see the place where this good man bled to death; that same place where women wailed and where men cried for the life that had been lost in the whirlwind of these troubled times.

And I am told that, Jospeph Tynes distraught and heart-stricken mother pleaded with the police; begging to see her son's body; and as I learned the police held her back and the murdered man's body was taken away in a hearse.

And so it was that, Sgt. Skippings could say that the police were called shortly after 5pm and responded immediately to find that a gunshot to the head had instantly claimed the life of the man dressed in grey trousers and a striped shirt.

And as the police report notes, “"It was reported that Joseph Tynes, the deceased, was sitting outside the establishment along with another man when they were approached by a man armed with a handgun… The gunman then robbed the men before shooting Mr. Tynes in the head… The suspect fled the area on foot heading west on Fire Trail Road…”

And thereafter, it was noted that, EMS personnel pronounced Mr. Tynes dead at the scene.

The other man – the man chatting with Tynes – was left unharmed.

And the bloody beat goes on; and in same mean-time, the men and the women with the stone-cold hearts now run things in this stone-cold hard place.

jonesbahamas

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