There is time for everything, so says the bible. There is time to come together for the preservation of the group and time for dissolving it based on the prevailing circumstances II Samuel 5: 1-5. The reign of King David brought together all the twelve tribes of Israel; while the reign of King Rehoboam caused the Northern Israel with 10 tribes to opt out of the Union to become separate autonomous kingdom with capital in Samaria I King 12:1-16. The Northern kingdom under King Jeroboam went to replicate the God of Israel as known by the Patriarchs with “The Golden Calves” which are mere man-made gods, rather than maintaining theocratic relations with Jerusalem I King 12: 21-24

Between Kings Rehoboam and Jeroboam, can it ever be said that their concept of national pride was in consonance with peaceful co-existence? Definitely not. They both negated the good governance that helped King David to earn the unification of all the twelve tribes of Israel and sustain as well as bequeathed the united kingdom to KIng Solomon. One can easily identify in the two leaders the interplay of pride, intoxicating power or “absolute power that corrupts absolutely”; listening to bad advisors in the case of King Rehoboam and vendetta as it was with King Jeroboam. They forgot the lessons from their historical antecedent. They never remembered and were neither advised nor reminded to recall the harrowing experiences of Jacob and Joseph followed by the 430 years in servitude plus the great deliverance from bondage. A forty-day journey turned into forty-year God-guided journey coupled with the wasting away of erring generation. For the sake of Jewish corporate existence, Joshua sent home the eastern tribes of the Reubenites, Gadites and the half tribe of Manasseh after their patriotic fighting along with other tribes to establish them on Canaan land. They had the apportionment of land “on this side of Jordan” but refused to relent effort until all tribes were settled down Joshua 22: 1-6. To me, fighting for the common good signifies national pride.

Europe had seen centuries of wars and had adjusted the people’s psyche to a level that they never considered war as the first option, especially at intra-national level. Kudos to the Scottish people for choosing to seek their desired opting out of the union by ballot box and not by the barrel of gun. The options in the present age include diplomacy, negotiated settlement possibly after civil disorder, but short of fratricidal war. Nowadays, it often involves trading in and out certain conditions to avert ravaging wars and consequent colossal loss. Civil disorder could bring economic loss but would never be comparable to fighting in the present age that now could involve use of weapons of mass destruction. This was why the world rose against Syria when she used chemical weapon against her kith and kin that rose in rebellion against the State. Russia , the strong ally of Syria joined the world to condemn the use of such weapon and advocated diplomatic solution to the problem.

The United kingdom must have to identify reason(s) for Scotland’s request for separate nation to be  independent of the United Kingdom. The problem has to be solved through feasible diplomatic solution in truth and in spirit. For a tiny instance, how is the Scottish pound viewed at the malls or on the Streets of London even though it has the same value as the pound sterling. They are all accepted as negotiable instrument on equal basis.

I want to believe that Great Britain scored first place among equals in terms of honoring the course of history in shaping their future. United Kingdom is a union of nationalities that was able to hold its own for 300 years. The feat is unique and I fervently hope the union is not allowed to crumble. May God save England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland, from apparent and real “Berlin Wall of Separation” threatening the United Kingdom. May “Shibboleth and Sibboleth syndrome” Judges 12: 1-6 that can cause possible break-up of UK be nipped in the bud by divine intervention. Humility, tolerance, sense of equality without superciliousness among members of the union, and altruistic love of one another need be re-awakened among the component parts. Let there be put in place internal healing of sociopolitical strained nerves, if any, and reform processes to re-solidify the basis for the age-long unity in the kingdom. There are innumerable advantages for staying together because ” united we stand, divided we fall”. The Parliament and the citizenry must rally round the monarch and ensure that the fore-going maxim concerning United Kingdom remains universally and perpetually valid. United Kingdom should not be allowed to become the next Tower of Babel.