* Opening Prayer *

So we hail our God, Eternal God, Ras Tafari, hear us and help us and cause Thy face to shine upon us, Thy children.

***

This week we celebrate Transfiguration Day on November 2nd. It will be 93 years since His Imperial Majesty was transformed from Negus Ras Tafari and crowned to become Emperor Haile Selassie I. His Imperial Majesty claimed his place with Lion of Judah, along with Kings David and Solomon, and the Kebra Negast tells some of the story of that lineage…

* The Kebra Negast *

Chapter 1: The Glory of The Kings

IN PRAISING GOD THE FATHER, THE SUSTAINER OF THE UNIVERSE, AND HIS SON JESUS CHRIST, THROUGH WHOM EVERYTHING CAME INTO BEING, AND WITHOUT WHOM NOTHING CAME INTO BEING, AND THE HOLY TRIUNE SPIRIT, THE PARACLETE, WHO GOETH FORTH FROM THE FATHER, AND DERIVETH FROM THE SON, WE BELIEVE IN AND ADORE THE TRINITY, ONE GOD, THE FATHER, AND THE SON, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

THE interpretation and explanation of the Three Hundred and Eighteen Orthodox [Fathers] concerning splendour, and greatness, and dignity, and how God gave them to the children of Adam, and especially concerning the greatness and splendour of Zion, the Tabernacle (tâbôt) of the Law of God, of which He Himself is the Maker and Fashioner, in the fortress of His holiness before all created things, [both] angels and men. For the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit with good fellowship and right good will and cordial agreement together made the Heavenly Zion to be the place of habitation of their Glory. And then the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit said, “Let Us make man in Our similitude and likeness,” 1 and with ready agreement and good will They were all of this opinion. And the Son said, “I will put on the body of Adam,” and the Holy Spirit said, “I will dwell in the heart[s] of the Prophets and the Righteous”; and this common agreement and covenant was [fulfilled] in Zion, the City of their Glory.

And David said, “Remember Thine agreement which Thou didst make of old for salvation, the rod of Thine inheritance, in Mount Zion wherein Thou dost dwell.” And He made Adam in His own image and likeness, so that He might remove Satan because of his pride, together with his host, and might establish Adam—His own plant—together with the righteous, His children, for His praises. For the plan of God was decided upon and decreed in that He said, “I will become man, and I will be in everything which I have created, I will abide in flesh.” And in the days that came after, by His good pleasure there was born in the flesh of the Second Zion the second Adam, Who was our Saviour Christ. This is our glory and our faith, our hope and our life, the Second Zion. 2

Footnotes

1:1 Genesis i, 26.

2:1 Psalm lxxiv, 2.

2:2 I.e., the Virgin Mary, who is identified in Chapter 11 with the “Tabernacle of the Law of God, the heavenly and spiritual Zion.”

* Old Testament Reading *

Last week we were talking about which was the oldest part of the Bible. I did some research and discovered it was part of the Book of Exodus called the Song of the Seas, or the Song Of Moses. It was probably written in the 13th Century BC and I find it amazing that we still have access to it. It’s also a beautiful piece of writing and I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I did. It is a holy song, focused solely on JAH, to exalt and honour His name. It describes how incredible it is to be one of JAH’s people. Many people feel that this is prophetic of the final destruction of the enemies of the church and I think it has great significance for the people of Africa who have been exiled, who have faced incredible hardship and cruelty for millennia, and who, as faithful to JAH, are not promised an easy life but belong to a God who can be our ‘strength’ and ‘defence’ and our ‘salvation!

Exodus 15: The Song of Moses and Miriam

1 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: “I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. Both horse and driver he has hurled into the sea.

2 “The LORD is my strength and my defense ; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

3 The LORD is a warrior; the LORD is his name.

4 Pharaoh’s chariots and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best of Pharaoh’s officers are drowned in the Red Sea.

5 The deep waters have covered them; they sank to the depths like a stone.

6 Your right hand, LORD, was majestic in power. Your right hand, LORD, shattered the enemy.

7 “In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.

8 By the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up. The surging waters stood up like a wall; the deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea.

9 The enemy boasted, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils; I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy them.’

10 But you blew with your breath, and the sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters.

11 Who among the gods is like you, LORD? Who is like you— majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?

12 “You stretch out your right hand, and the earth swallows your enemies.

13 In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.

14 The nations will hear and tremble; anguish will grip the people of Philistia.

15 The chiefs of Edom will be terrified, the leaders of Moab will be seized with trembling, the people of Canaan will melt away;

16 terror and dread will fall on them. By the power of your arm they will be as still as a stone— until your people pass by, LORD, until the people you bought pass by.

17 You will bring them in and plant them on the mountain of your inheritance— the place, LORD, you made for your dwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established.

18 “The LORD reigns for ever and ever.”

* Prayer Time *

Those that have been in our group before will remember that this was the time that we used to share things that needed praying for, the time when we used to pray for each other, praise JAH and give thanks for our blessings. You probably also remember that this is the point when one of the group would always pray that the food at Berwyn would get better. I must admit, I don’t ever remember it making much difference!

* Reasoning *

After last week’s discussion about your beliefs and knowledge levels I have put a load of thought into what would work for all of you. I have a plan!! In fact, I don’t just have a plan, I have a 5 week plan! I know all of you have different aspects of overstanding, some of you have been taught by really good Rastafari teachers, some of you have Rastafari heritage knowledge. The whole idea of a Reasoning is to bring your knowledge, share it, listen to others, debate…so I thought I would find something which is worthy of that, one of H.I.M Haile Selassie I’s speeches. I have chosen a speech from 1966, given on the 2nd November, the 36th anniversary of his crowning as the 225th Emperor of Ethiopia…so relevant for us this week. It is a speech called ‘The Way of Life’ and was a wise and thought-provoking speech which I think you will all enjoy debating and discussing its relevance for us today.I have also found the Pato Banton track which sets the same speech to music. Here is the speech…

H.I.M. Haile Selassie’s speech, ‘The Way of Life’.

What we seek is a new and a different way of life. We search for a way of life in which all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to participate fully in the political affairs of their government; a way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted; a way of life in which the blessings and benefits of the modern world can be enjoyed by all without the total sacrifice of all that was good and beneficial in the old Ethiopia. We are from and of the people, and our desires derive from and are theirs.

Can this be achieved from one dusk to the next dawn, by the waving of a magic wand, by slogans or by Imperial declaration? Can this be imposed on our people, or be achieved solely by legislation? We believe not. All that we can do is provide a means for the development of procedures which, if all goes well, will enable an increasing measure and degree of what we seek for our nation to be accomplished. Those who will honestly and objectively view the past history of this nation cannot but be impressed by what has already been realised during their lifetime, as well as be awed by the magnitude of the problems which still remain. Annually, on this day, we renew our vow to labour, without thought of self, for so long as Almighty God shall spare us, in the service of our people and our nation, in seeking the solutions to these problems. We call upon each of you and upon each Ethiopian to do likewise……

Above all, Ethiopia is dedicated to the principle of the equality of all men, irrespective of differences of race, colour or creed.

As we do not practice or permit discrimination within our nation, so we oppose it wherever it is found.

As we guarantee to each the right to worship as he chooses, so we denounce the policy which sets man against man on issues of religion.

As we extend the hand of universal brotherhood to all, without regard to race or colour, so we condemn any social or political order which distinguishes among God’s children on this most specious of grounds.

***

It’s such an interesting speech, with so much in it to discuss. I thought we would divide it into sections, so we get as much benefit of His wisdom as we can.

So, the first bit to discuss is the first paragraph. I am going to start off the Reasoning with a few questions for you to debate and then you can take it from there!…

1.) The idea that “all men will be treated as responsible human beings, able to fully participate in the political affairs of their government”… How will this work, why is this important, will it make any difference?

2.) A “way of life in which ignorance and poverty, if not abolished, are at least the exception and are actively combatted”…H.I.M. was a huge believer in a good education system and the importance of continuing to learn. Here are two quotes of His about education:

“Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilise her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life”

“A MAN WHO SAYS “I HAVE LEARNED ENOUGH AND WILL LEARN NO FURTHER” SHOULD BE

CONSIDERED AS KNOWING NOTHING AT ALL.”

What is our responsibility in this? Why is it important?

…there are many ways this can be discussed, this is just to start off!

***

Closing Prayer

InI father in heaven. Hallowed be thy name, may your kingdom come, may your will be done. On earth and in heaven.please oh JAH Give InI this our daily bread, and forgive us of our trespass as InI forgive those that trespass against InI. Please JAH do not bring us to the time of trial, but deliver InI from every evil. Almighty I JAH RASTAFARI HAILE SELASSIE I the first. King of kings, lord of lords, elect of god, light of the world. Thank you JAH FOR EVERYTHING you have given InI and blessed unto InI. In your holy name I pray Yeshua. JAH RAstafari

***

November 1st 2023

First letter, after the first week, after a new start…what to say to you?! Firstly, it was so good to catch up with those I know, to hear about those who are out and doing well. It was also really lovely to meet the new members and start our plans for how our group is going to go. I have done loads of thinking and planning and hopefully you will like what I have put together for the group for the next few weeks. I think this is going to be a really interesting group because you all have lots of different knowledge and are good at debating, so it should be an exchange of knowledge as well as fun…I’ve always said that this is the best group to be part of!

I’ve given in this week and I lit a fire in the stove in the kitchen. It’s no good ignoring it, autumn is here and its not getting any warmer no matter how many pairs of thick socks I put on. I love having the stove lit in the kitchen and so do all the animals. We have an old sofa in the kitchen and I am sat on it writing to you, with the company of a dachshund, a spaniel and a golden retriever piled on top of me…my excuse if there are typos! None of you have been introduced to the spaniel, let me tell you her story….

Lenny, as I had to tell all of you who remember him, sadly died about a year and a half ago. He was such a thief right until the end and didn’t ever slow down. The day before his last he came with me, my son and a load of my son’s friends to get the starter motor for the tractor repaired, to pick up red diesel, to get some bulbs for the farm truck and to get a Burger King burger…his favourite! He was being as giddy and daft as ever, bouncing round, trying to steal everyone’s food, even though he had his own burger, and then the following day, that was that. It was quick. I couldn’t believe he was gone and nor could my son.

My son struggled to sleep without his Len in his bed. He hated being alone in his bedroom without him. The amount of times he would start up to go out in the tractor and go to call Lenny to go with him. He couldn’t bear to move any of Lenny’s things, at all, any of them. Lenny’s food bowl, Lenny’s water bowl, Lenny’s basket at the bottom of his bed. There was a problem….Lenny was an old gentleman and as sometimes happens to old gentlemen staffies, his…erm…bladder was not always…the most reliable, shall I say?! And the weeks went by and the basket at the bottom of my son’s bed got increasingly stinky and no-one could get him to give up on it. It was baaaad! Grim.

My son would send me pictures of staffies he had found on rescue sites and I would ask him, is this the one? Shall we go and see him? Always the same reply, No! And the basket stayed where it was and continued to stink. He said he didn’t want to get another dog unless he could take it to work. And he wouldn’t ask his work if he could take a dog.

My son works on a beef and dairy farm, he’s a farmer, its his first job after leaving school.

He had gone for a day out to the zoo and in between sending me out-of-focus pictures of giraffes and pictures of him making faces at the camera with half an ostrich in the background, he was sending me pictures of dogs from the Dog’s Trust site. His favourite that day was Dave the brindle staffie. You know one of those days where you say, “Stuff it! Something needs to be done!”

So I got in the car, drove down to the farm where he worked and talked to his boss. We agreed, the lad needs a dog.

There were rules…it couldn’t be a bull breed because it was a dairy farm (my son had said that he couldn’t cope with another staffie anyway because he just wanted Lenny back) and it had to be a girl to fit in with the farm dogs and our dogs.

So I phoned my son. You can imagine how that went….. Me: You’ll never guess where I am?! Son: Where??? (Tones of “mother, I hope you aren’t going to be a problem”) Me: I’m sat outside your work. Son: WHAAAAAAAAAATT??!!! Me: Yes, I’m sat outside your work cos I’ve just been to have a talk with your boss. Son: &&&%$$$%^^& Me: I’ve just been to talk to your boss because, well, we needed to talk about the puppy I’m buying you. Son:……..silence……silence……then squealing.

By the following day he had shortlisted down to golden retriever or cocker spaniel and the decision came down to how easy it would be to bath after farm life. A golden retriever is a lot of dog to wash. I know this. I have two of them. It was going to have to be a spaniel. Then, it must be a dark colour, it has to be a dark colour otherwise it will always look dirty. It’s going to need to be a dark colour….whoops, we chose a white one. Meet Mali, she’s an orange roan cocker spaniel….

This is the day we got her. She is adorable. She has the biggest spaniely-smile ever, loves everyone with huge enthusiasm, has the muckiest paws from digging elephant traps in my garden and isn’t afraid to share her muckiness with everyone.

In preparation for Mali’s arrival I explained to my son that puppies immune systems are just developing and they need to be protected from too many germs (in other words, the stinky shrine to Lenny had to go!) And it went. Mali has grinned and snuggled her way into my son’s heart. She is the best tractor spaniel going…

Last week my son, Mali and I went off on a mission. We bought off eBay a piece of reclaimed slate and we are going to use it to put a bench by Lenny’s grave. With Lenny’s dinner bowl that has his name on, we are going to plant something next to it, probably some snowdrops, to remember him by.

For those of you who don’t remember Lenny, I’m sorry that this is our first letter…but just so you know, it doesn’t get any more interesting than this!

Lastly, I was talking to one of you last week about the Amen break in drum n bass. I didn’t know the history of it so came home and looked it up. This is from Wikipedia:

“The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track “Amen, Brother” by the American soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single “Color Him Father“. The drum break lasts seven seconds and was performed by Gregory Coleman.

With the rise of hip hop in the 1980s, the Amen break was used in hits including “Straight Outta Compton” by N.W.A and “Keep It Going Now” by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock. In the 1990s, it became a staple of drum and bass and jungle music. It has been used in at least 6000 tracks of many genres, making it the most sampled recording in music history.The Amen break is a drum break that has been widely sampled in popular music. It comes from the 1969 track “Amen, Brother” by the American soul group the Winstons, released as the B-side of the 1969 single “Color Him Father“. The drum break lasts seven seconds and was performed by Gregory Coleman.”

“At about 1 minute and 26 seconds into “Amen, Brother”, the other musicians stop playing and the drummer, Gregory Coleman, performs a four-bar drum break that lasts for seven seconds. For two bars, Coleman plays the previous beat. In the third bar, he delays a snare hit. In the fourth bar, he leaves the first beat empty, then plays a syncopated pattern and an early crash cymbal.”

There you go, the history of the Amen break in DnB…what else would these letters be for!

Blessings,

Elizabeth