Sir Clement T. Maynard

And of course, there will be other fine words uttered in the days that are ahead of those who yet live.

In some of what he said, this former prime minister of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas said: " I was deeply saddened to learn of the passing earlier today of former Deputy Prime Minister, Sir Clement Maynard.

"He was a great national hero and a major builder of the modern Bahamas, especially in the development of the Bahamian tourism industry. Above all, he was a patriot whose disciplined devotion to public service and outstanding ability, both as a minister of the Government and as a Member of Parliament, set a standard of excellence that few have been able to match.

"Sir Clement was one of the last surviving members of the original Majority Rule Cabinet of 1967. Indeed, only His Excellency the Hon. Arthur Hanna and Warren Levarity now remain. For a full quarter of a century, Sir Clement served with distinction in a succession of ministries, none more notably than the Ministry of Tourism…"

This former prime minister also noted that, "Sir Clement was also a longtime Deputy Leader of the Progressive Liberal Party and in the first rank of Stalwart Councillors of the Party. It is also a matter of historical record that he was the first President of the Bahamas Public Services Union, a post he held prior to his induction into Cabinet and his appointment to the Senate in 1967…"

In all of this and in all these very many words, Mr. Christie speaks truth.

But even as he speaks this prosaic truth about Clement T. Maynard, there are some truths concerning the man that approach – as far as we are concerned – a realm that is suffused with that poetry that is to be found in lives that have been well-lived.

Clement Trevelyan Maynard lived one of these.

Indeed, we were so moved when we heard that he was dead, we knew that we could and should turn to poetry itself in that dread moment.

And in verse sublime [as penned by Alfred Lord Tennyson] we were reminded of these words, "And slowly answer'd Arthur from the barge: "The old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfils Himself in many ways, Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.

Tennyson goes on to declaim: "Comfort thyself: what comfort is in me? I have lived my life, and that which I have done May He within Himself make pure! But thou, If thou shouldst never see my face again, Pray for my soul. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of…"

And so today, we pray.

Indeed, when we heard the news that Sir Clement T. Maynard was dead, we were left released of a sigh of heavenly relief; for the man that he was and for the service that he had rendered in helping found and build the modern Bahamas.

And for sure, we also unleashed a mighty sigh of relief when we heard the news that Sir Clement T. Maynard was dead; this time because we know that for this man-servant of God, it was just all right now.

That Clement Trevelyan Maynard was also a consummate family man also gives us pause as we remind ourselves of the power in his mighty wisdom to the effect that family matters.

This good man and his wife, Lady Zoe Maynard are to be thanked and praised for their guide as mentors and pattern to all who would dare build family, provide for off-spring [sometimes working today as if this day was the last] and otherwise make of themselves productive citizens.

So even as we remind ourselves of the great work done by Sir Clement, we remind ourselves that his achievements came about as a consequence of his deliberate decision to emulate the work and image left him by his inestimably wonderful mother, the late Georgianna K. Symonette.

But not only this, it is today quite clear that Clement Maynard was man enough and wise enough to build upon work and achievement of his father and his forbears.

Put otherwise [and in a nutshell] the great Sir Clement T. Maynard – a man with the voices of many in his blood – spoke well, good and true in the long years he spent as a Bahamian national hero; a real man of the people.

Even now, we lament the fact that he is gone.

But even as we mourn and lament, our resurrection-faith assures us that we shall see him by and by.

May this great man-servant of the one High King now rest in peace.