On Sunday, December 3, 2023, I had no intention of attending any church service, as always, since I was openly humiliated by one priest who was supported by a senior brother that I have for so long respected. But surprisingly, I received a text by about 2:00am inviting me to attend a church service all the way on the Du-Port Road, about L$500 distance from my community. Anyway, it was for a worthy cause, so I braved the challenge and attended. In many months, this was my first time sitting in a congregation to listen to someone read the Bible to me as though I did not know how to read.
As a visitor, I tried to observe their liturgy and noticed that, apart from the songs, they had very little to offer, so I attempted diverting my attention to something more profitable when the hymn, “I know not where the road will lead,” written by Everlyn Atwater Cummins, visited my hymnology and brought me to the thought that the incoming government of Amb. Joseph Boakai, not knowing where the road will lead, is about to walk the King’s Highway.
Evelyn Atwater Cummins was born on May 17, 1891 and died August 30, 1971, and was the wife of the rector of Christ Church in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Written in 1922, this must be one of the first hymns to have been inspired by the radio. Unlike I, who have not attended any church service in more than a year due to the “Christian” behaviors of some self-proclaimed holy men, Cummins recalled that she was unwell, and unable to attend church, so she listened with earphones to a sermon by Dr. Samuel Parkes Cadman. who was a pioneer religious broadcaster on the topic of ‘The King’s Highway’. She continued: ‘the title sort of stuck in my head, and so I thought I would put down what the King’s Highway meant to me’. She sent the hymn to Dr. Cadman, who read it on the radio on several occasions.
In church history, the King’s Highway was an ancient thoroughfare that connected Syria and the Gulf of Aqaba by way of what is present day Jordan.
As mentioned in the Old Testament, it is one of the world’s oldest continuously used communication routes. The King’s Highway was an important thoroughfare for north-south trade from ancient times.
In the Roman period, the road was called Via Regia. Emperor Trajan rebuilt it and changed its name to Via Traiana Nova. At his command, fortifications were built in the desert in the province of Arabia Petraea, stretching for 1500 kilometers from northern Syria to southern Palestine.
I believe, by divine grace, that the issue of ‘managing expectations’ may have drawn its inspiration from this hymn, because none of us actually knows how soon or effectively the Boakai-led government will begin to put in place governance structures that will cater to the needs and aspiration of the people. All Amb. Boakai and his team know is that they are walking the King’s Highway.
While we journey with Mr. Boakai and his team, it will be in our best interest that we begin to manage our expectations and pay keen attention to how they run the state of affairs of the country.
You all will agree with me that following six years under the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) government, all fabrics of our society, ranging from security to the economy, from education to health, from sanitation to infrastructure and institutions, were broken down.
I will expect that the new government will have to remold and rebrand and reunify the entire country, while at the same time, put in place policies that will address the bread and butter issues of the people.
Managing expectation is one essential element that is in the center of our daily activities, whether in school, on the job, or in our public and private lives. It is not limited to expecting something from a person or group of persons, it is also what you expect to give in return or your expected support to the system to make it succeed.
In managing my expectations, I believe that if we want to succeed under the Joe Boakai government, I would think that we should begin managing the tribal, regional, and political divide that was created at the expense of the just ended elections; we should start identifying key priority areas where the government can make immediate impact and support it in that area; we should begin by making little impacts in our communities by extending handshakes and speaking peace to those who had opposing political views to ours. We should begin by engaging our local and national leaders, especially our legislators, on ways that we and they can work for our collective benefits.
If we manage our expectations in these simple ways, we will help the government to lift our issues to the table for immediate redress.
There is no clear promise as to whether the King’s Highway will be long or short, smooth or rough, uphill or downhill; as far as the Boakai-Koung government is concerned, they will manage our expectations as they walk the King’s Highway.
