Do you know that some people limit vision to physical sight? Even people regarded as legally blind have ‘vision’! History records Frances[Fanny] Jane Crosby an American poetess as one who wrote over 8000 hymns during her lifetime- though blind. Helen Kellerwas both blind and deaf but those who have read her story realize she was an extraordinary American woman. In the Bahamas, Blake Alphonso Higgs demonstrated his prowess as a talented musician and entertainer. Vision supersedes physical sight.

Vision, as recorded in the Bible, assumes several forms. Moses, during a vision of a burning bush that was not consumed was instructed to remove his shoes because he was standing on holy ground. Zacharias, a priest, was visited by angel Gabriel in the temple[Luke 1:11-20]. His experience left him awestruck and dumbfounded. The Macedonian call redirected Paul and Silas. Joel declared that God would pour out His Spirit on mankind, resulting in dreams and visions[Joel ].However, vision has another meaning.

Vision refers to goals, mission and purpose. One summer I assisted with a youth program. After I had shared The Goal Song – original lyrics written to the tune I have The Joy, I invited everyone present to share a long range goal. One three year old declared that he wanted to be a fire engine!

“A fire engine?” I asked.

This fleet footed youngster, a prime candidate for the 2012 Olympics Team, sped like a fire engine, running easily.

“You want to be a fireman,” I suggested politely.

“No, I want to be a fire engine,” he insisted adamantly.

During the three weeks that he attended the program, he ran long distances effortlessly and insisted that he wanted to be a fire engine. That is vision - whether you or I agree with it as a possibility.

Every person on earth was designed according to a plan and purpose. Some have art woven in their frame. Ashley visited me with her aunt. While her aunt was busily engaged on the telephone, I took charge of her. We walked in nature , explored the keyboard and sang. After protecting her outfit, I engaged Ashley in painting with a sponge. To the three year old, painting meant spreading the paint over the paper and asking for more paper. But, painting is more.

“Give it some tone and texture,” I suggested.

What does a three year old know about tone and texture? Well, those two words kept Ashley busy. At the end of the painting session, I showed her paintings to family members with a strong art foundation. These critics smiled and commended Ashley for the work. For a three year old, it was interesting to discover that she had demonstrated a precise and accurate understanding of tone and texture.

Presently, the CCJET- a team of zealous, talented seventh graders- desire to write material suitable for publication on the internet. After listening to their apt description and intricate plots, I realize that they are off to a smart start. Besides writing, they are interested in preparing videos and CDs. These pre-teens have a visual concept. They can see their short term and long range goals - their mission and purpose. This team is not merely working to obtain a letter grade or certificates in a national examination- though these are important. They have something intangible within them.

Possessing a visual concept is but a fraction of the whole. Inner vision provides another aspect. How do you see yourself? Do you have to be applauded by the crowd? What happens when you do not hear their ovation? Everyone who begins a project does not finish it. Some projects lack impetus - the revelation, insight, inspiration that comes from God. He infuses the life into a project.

Solomon in Proverbs says wisdom is the principal thing; so get wisdom. However, during your strivings, do not neglect insight. Although I can sight read music, for years I have depended on playing by ear. It was a music lesson that inspired me to write Fifty Years: To Have And To Hold. When I began to practice sight reading the song There Shall Be Showers Of Blessings, progress was slow. Then, my music instructor pointed out patterns in the bass, my weak area. However, it was not until I began rising early to practice – using an earphone- that I began to ‘see’ the music. The mother of a friend has inspired me too.

My friend’s mother related her personal experience - a testimony to the power of God. When she was a child - about ten - she began attending music lessons. It was an unpleasant event for her. However, God solved it. One night, she told me, a man appeared to her in a dream and showed her the seven signatures. After that dream, she could play the piano and organ with or without sheet music. This gifted musician fit into the divine purpose of God for He prepared her for work in His Vineyard as a Shepherdess who would teach others His ways and prepare them with skills in music.

Style provides each person with a unique signature. Some people choose to imitate others and emerge as a copycat. Though imitation has its place , many counterfeit products and art work result from the love of money; and this greed propels some to evil. During my exploration of the internet in a quest for lucrative opportunities, I have encountered offers that have a ‘sucker hook’. They suck you into their offer like a whirlpool; then you have the opportunity to ‘get rich’ if you follow their example. Copy them and profit; or lose your investment. No doubt, this plan is successful or scammers and con artists would not be able to subsist on the world wide web along with those who possess integrity and whose motive is to genuinely help not fleece others.

During my college days, one professor assessed my writing as having no value. It was worth a B; but an A was elusive, though occasional. The reason, she declared, was that I had nothing but style. At first I was stunned. Then I thought about what made Shakespeare, Keats, Dickens, Frost, Soyinka, Grandma Moses, Amos Ferguson, Joseph Spence, Blind Blake and others - even myself - renown. Style , whether in art, design, writing, cooking, speaking, makes an individual different and distinguishes that person in a crowd.

During a Poetry Reading Competition, I realized that if I wanted to win, I had to present the unexplored and blaze a trail of uniqueness. Thus, I utilized a technique that embraced a narrative form and allowed me to be natural. Bahamian dialect is evident in my speech. I placed second in the competition; and according to my professor, the judges could not pinpoint precisely the winning qualities. But they liked what I offered them. I had served them delectable, scrumptious Bahamian poetry cuisine!

Some people thrive on ingenious ideas; and necessity often forces their hand. How do you prepare a cantaloupe so that it is sensually appealing and tasty too? Cantaloupe Encore; I want more! Tired of Johnny cake? Try Johnny biscuits! Can guava be used for anything else besides jam, jelly and duff? Welcome guava muffins! Have you tasted Dilly Splat? What is that? Although my attempt at dilly cake was more dilly pudding, a local winter resident of Crooked Island has perfected the recipe for dilly cake. Dilly ice cream is mouthwatering; and so is mammee sapota cake. During the next mammee sapota season, I will try the ice cream.

Some recipes depend on using the basic and adding a delectable touch. A nephew used a Johnny cake recipe; and by removing one ingredient and replacing it with another, he arrived at a delicious, savoury food. He received a B in that subject; and by continual ingenuity, he maintained a B grade and receivied an award at the end of the academic year.

Have you ever started a recipe wrong but it turned out right? This was true for the meatless spaghetti soup, a back burner meal. It cannot be cooked on the front burner with the same results. One laughable yet ingenious experience occurred during an attempt to demonstrate how to make a cake. When the instructions on a boxed cake recipe required one cup of water, I followed the instructions; but I did not use a measuring cup! My niece informed me that the cake would not come to perfection. I had failed in her eyesight. However, I added a cup of a magic ingredient to the recipe, poured the mixture into muffin cups, baked them and covered my ‘mistake’ with ‘canned’ icing. The Oliver Twists in my life wanted more!

An apple pie went wrong when we discovered that we had enough filling for one and a half pies! Who has ever heard of a half pie? I had purchased a can of coconut - that I thought was flakes. It was cream of coconut. Elena, who was helping her tutor learn cuisine art, was ‘game’; and so were a surprising amount of dormitory students who had heard about the fluke through the grapevine. Elena, Celeste [who provided the apples] and I received a sliver of the apple coconut cream lattice top pie after serving the willing, eager tasters!

Ingenuity need not be limited to food. Elias Howe discovered how to make the needle for the sewing machine work after a dream by placing the eye lower.He received the patent; and others like Singer improved the machine, making  home models. Recently, access to a flash drive with photos and my hubs was denied me. I asked the Help Forum at Hub Pages for assistance. Before I received a response, a former student visited the local library while I was there. A Computer Studies major, who was forced to sit out the year for a myriad of reasons, he proved to be the ideal person I should ask.

"That's easy," he said. "Right click the flash drive and explore. Sometimes you have to explore."

He demonstrated the technique for me; and I gained access to the information. Ingenious! Why hadn’t I thought about that idea?

Everyone does not succeed on American idol and other popular shows. Although there are many factors involved in the final decision of judges, outstanding performance is one of them.What exactly is outstanding performance? The CCJET Team asked each other that question and two additional ones on a video.  Is being a part of a hub similar to being on You Tube? They wondered then sought answers - from me. The video clips, which they will prepare, will provide their opinions, experiences and concepts about outstanding performance.Eventually, they will write their own script and provide their own story board.

The youth on Crooked island as well as the adults have historic reminders of outstanding performance. beyond the pillars in Sea View are stern  memories of an era and civilization recorded in text books or preserved in museums. The unwritten history is of men and women who walked great distances along track roads to collect freight and then carry it over rocky trails.They braved adversities to attend church; and some older residents attained a quality education without the benefits of modern technology.

Bahamians everywhere can be proud of athletes who fought hard during Olympics Games and CARIFTA as well as European Tournaments. Besides the Golden Girls, there is Sir Durward Knowles, an Olympic gold medalist  in sailing.. The Hoerman Cup golf team set a winning record, one worthy of emulation. At the Smithsonian institute,Bahamian artisans,vocalists and choirs wooed the crowds. Annually, the Boxing Day and New Years Day Junkanoo Festival Parades stun  yet please an excited crowd with their gorgeously beautiful, neatly fringed costumes.The outstanding performance of Junkanoo groups begin in the shack with design,cutting, pasting.

As children, our parents exposed my siblings and me to quality literature- Uncle Arthur’s Bedtime Storiesand the Royal Readers Volumes 1- 6. Beginner readers learned from the Primers.

‘God is in heaven

And does He see when I am doing wrong?’

My father enjoyed reciting The Burial of Sir John Moore, a favourite from his school days.

‘Not a drum was heard

Not a funeral note’.

On the other hand, my mother‘s favourite began:

‘Tell me not in mournful numbers’.

Everyone had to learn Persevere. Its famous lines encouraged us.

‘Though you stumble oft boys

Never be downcast.

Try and try again, boys,

You’ll succeed at last.

Phil Stubbs, a Bahamian lyricist and musician included the poem as a song on the album Cry of the Potcake. Even someone unfamiliar with the potcake breed would empathize with its plight. Those who delve into the profound depths of lyrics will realize that humans are treated like dogs often; and only those who persevere- never quit in spite of adversities- can survive.

Four years ago, doctors pronounced limitations on Juliece, a premature baby weighing barely one pound at birth. Her twin, Shaniece, received and benefited from surgery. She can see, walk and run. Juliece can see, walk and run too; but her vision has to be re-evaluated soon. Presently, Juliece can ride her bicycle, run in the house with her sisters, walk along the sidewalk from the house to the car without assistance and demonstrate her independence. She is aware of light and darkness.

During this academic year, Juliece joined her twin at the pre-school. At school, she has exploded many misconceptions people have about her and those who are visually impaired. She and her sisters have declared me their favourite ‘Goddy’; and I feel honoured and blessed. In the morning when I watch Juliece leave the house and walk to the car by herself, brimming with sunshine, I am infected with her joy. Her sweet, light soprano causes my cup of joy to overflow; and she sings naturally- all the time. Since she is always asking for paper, I have given her an art book. Within Juliece, I know that there is an artist, writer, poetess, lyricist and musician. Even if I wanted to quit before, I know that I must persevere now. Juliece and her siblings are a vivid part of my vision.

What, I ask again, is in your vision?