Sunday’s paper carried an article on Gun trafficking in Sav-la-Mar. I was traveling through Sav. earlier this week with a friend. I wanted to show her one of my favorite river spots. As I turned the corner and sought to confirm directions (long-time-no-visit) we were informed that people don’t go down there anymore. People have been robbed, murdered, police run down gunman ova de etc.
I was most disheartened. That was one of my favorite unspoiled spots. Pristine in beauty. Our conversational focus had been grounded in that final line from I vow to thee my country – “And all her paths are peace” speaking of that heavenly country we are seeking to ground with this one infested by crime.
We passed through Mobay under lock-down. Most public conversations last week after the national prayer breakfast were fixated on the vexatious and ever more critical state of the nation. The viciousness of the scammers who want to remain incognito regardless of increased police vigilance and their own flamboyant tendencies, the heinous nature of the killings – the resurrection of human beheading, the use of embalming fluid as the drug of choice for killing spree prep etc etc.
Somewhere after Sav, we started to quarrel. After the argument heated up to unacceptable levels, I suggested we observe silence for some time since we seemed unable to restrain ourselves from abusive speech. My friend wisely turned up the cd player to allow worship music to cleanse the air.
Our silence was broken not too far from Blue Fields, still in Westmoreland. A man lay in his blood on the street. I assumed he was the victim of a hit and run accident, but on examination, he was shot in the mouth, the hand and apparently in the abdomen. It couldn’t have happened more than a minute or so before we passed since we were among the first to arrive on the scene and stop.
It took a while and some drama to alert the police, who finally, as we drove off approached, adding to our hopes for the man’s survival. When we resumed speaking, we suggested to each other that we limit our conversation to affirmations and blessings. We really had spent a good deal of energy in what amounted to personal blame and accusation.
The entire rest of the day and our friendship was radically transformed in that decision. You could say, we experienced heaven on earth…profoundly so.
I’ve written prolifically for the past twenty years on the connections between our private lives and public environments….how the twain influence each other….often subtly – without recognition….and the responsibility we have to create an atmosphere of peace rather than become victims of violence. (I agree the two seem unrelated but for my philosophical understanding)
Black History month begins today. We are trying to remember accurately our historical legacy as constructive nation builders and awake from the present nightmare of chaos. Some time ago, I shared those principles which made us great as a people before and which will make us great again, in a speech Who were the ancient Egyptians? (tek a luk. Feel free to share)
We all claim to know them (especially me) but how often when tested we recognize we are still studying the course, and haven’t yet attained the degree.
Martin Henry opines that our blight is a blight of leadership. He thinks that 250 leaders of integrity can pull Jamaica out of its doldrums. He admits that while he would love to name all 250 and recommend them to the nation, what limits him from doing so is not just column space, but a ‘lack of information’.I realized after re-reading my own article that numbered amongst the proud, (and therefore ineffectual in leadership) was myself.
We think we know….when in truth we understand little or nothing. We deceive ourselves to believe we are any better than those we criticise. God is probably waiting not on 250, but one. Would to God it were me, but like Isaiah, I find myself very tainted among stouthearted people of unclean lips.
May God in His grace find even one from among us …… or from wherever. May we truly learn, for He surely is attempting to teach us ….. the meaning of “true respect for all“. Amen.
YeKengalé 