Back in 1967 there was a song popularised by the Beatles titled Love Is All You Need. They were on to something, capturing the fact that love is more than just a romantic idea; it is truly the essence of life, the substance of joy, and if you don't have a description, you would not be wrong for thinking of it as the light and energy of God.

We understand the idea of a contracting and expanding universe, and also the evolution of human consciousness. It takes no "rocket scientist to acknowledge the facts of our primitive lifestyles, social mores, all having changed and modernised all over the world, with a process that continues. We also can recognise that there is a religious expectation for things to ultimately get better, even though usually couched in "end of days" phenomenon.

The world actually moves in sync in spite of its apparent randomness, and political events such as those occurring and on display in the United States are all indicators of similar events happening in our own political ecospace. The battle of truth, or the question of should one believe what they plainly see with their own eyes, is now a current reality? These would normally be irrational questions, but in American politics it has come to that — truth is relegated to only whatever story is told or suits a narrative. We saw on January 6 what to the world looked like an attack on the White House; it is amazing that four months later it has become a question as to whether this was a normal tourist event or a mob threat on the capitol.

It seems so far away until we put the spotlight on our own local politics. It is a basic fact that most Bermudians are blood relatives of each other. Particularly for those who are beyond fifth and sixth generation. That relatedness should be enough to foster a familial community sense. Why are we so fragmented? Why is there such an appearance of hatred — not of just being tolerated, but justified as if it were a moral position?

True, our politics have never been perfect or even reminiscent of any society built on altruistic values. Yet, how do we continue to tolerate a political dynamic that demands the polarisation of the races where it is a requirement to continue a narrative of voluntary segregation based on slavery, Jim Crow and all the anti-humanistic behaviours of the past? The repetition of which, as though an eternal curse that has no solution, that not even the ultimate source of life can remedy.

Yes, we know that human behaviours change very slowly, but that change happens ever so much more slowly when bolstered by attitudes and positions that do not foster love and unity between people. We mentioned the song Love Is All You Need; however, forgiveness is the gateway to love. Without forgiveness, love, joy and peace remain an illusive dream. Love is the essence, but forgiveness is the door and peace is the garden we inherit by walking through that door.

All the heavy lifting is in forgiveness. Forgive doesn't mean forget the lessons learnt, or that justice is to be forsaken. Forgive means take down the walls that prevent love and productive relationships from flowing. Forgive means allow the potential of “life today” and now to fully blossom. Forgive means do not limit what you can do now because of what happened yesterday.

As we witness what is happening with the idea of truth in the US, let’s not close our eyes to a truth that belies the nature of our own politic in Bermuda. In 2021, we still have a politic based on a circumstance of division upon which political power is achieved and determined. If it were not for the structured insistence on having a racial attitude, it may be difficult to determine where fate will take us politically.

We need a love and forgiveness movement that is genuine, not just cliché. It is no use marching with placards with love signs without having a genuine sense in our hearts. Right here, in little Bermuda, we can begin the process of healing the world through forgiveness, which is the precursor to love.

Love is creative energy; we don't need to imagine or strategise on what love will do because that would only limit its magical nature. The work we must do is to reach out beyond our blockages and establish a new zone of comfort with our neighbour. Bermudians basically — Black, White and other — are “one tribe”. The vast majority are blood-related and have a shared DNA profile. Do not let a minority of any race or class, particularly a political class, determine how our fraternity should look or set the terms for what is our innate capacity as a tribe community.

We can open the pathway towards the proverbial “city of God" or that place were love abounds and our humanity can alas shine.