Roy Notice | When weeping is not enough

I weep for Xavier ‘Bojo’ Phillips. He watched his last football game in Howells Content near York Town, Clarendon on Sunday, August 8. The report in The Gleaner was chilling, “Little Xavier was shot and killed … as he sat on a grave watching a game of football.”

I weep with Xavier’s family, and the many others whose children have been murdered by those who perpetuate evil in our society.

The words of Xavier’s weeping grandmother, Eva Brown, cut deep, “No more Bojo! A me guh fe Bojo a country. Me nuh come see no more Bojo! Me see Bojo lie dung! Jesus Christ!”

I weep for 10-year-old Jahiem Bogle, who was shot in Arnett Gardens in July 2021. I weep for four-year-old Nashaun Brown, whose stepfather beat him for two hours because he was eating too slowly. I weep for 43-year-old shopkeeper, Shellyann Shaw and her five-year-old son, Jamer Powell, who were shot multiple times by gunmen who invaded their home in the Top Hill section of Granville, St James on Sunday, July 18.

However, like many others, my grief will probably be short-lived, as we seem to have become desensitised to these heinous crimes. But even as we weep, if we cry and then it is business as usual, then our tears are wasted.

We must weep and wage war. Compassion must be matched by courageous action. Decent and law-abiding Jamaicans cannot afford to sit passively by and watch the snuffing out of sacred lives The fight against crime and violence must take place on a political, economic, social, psychological and spiritual level. I will examine the social and spiritual.

SOCIAL INTERVENTION

The prevalence of inhumane and criminal violence in any community is a sign of social disintegration. It finds its roots in the breakdown of a cohesive and supportive healthy family unit. Such a unit may be described as families that are led by adults who are capable of giving and receiving love, ambitious and unselfish, responsible and hardworking, caring and careful, and guided by sound moral values.

If there is a breakdown in leadership in our homes, then we will produce dysfunctional young people who will play their part in ensuring that we do not realise our vision of becoming the envied place to live, raise families, worship, do business, and retire.

In the same way that efforts have been made to integrate the different subjects into the curriculum, family life, with an emphasis on responsible parenting, should be integrated into every subject. This effort should be led by guidance counsellors, supported by subject teachers. Our children and young people should be taught what it means to be a good father, a good mother, how to select a partner, how to identify abusive behaviours, and the value and worth of marriage.

Can you imagine what it would mean for every Jamaican student to graduate from secondary school with a certificate in family life? The focus on building strong families cannot be left to chance. The government, the church and other groups in society must be strategic and intentional. I believe that most Jamaicans would support a five-year plan that details a way forward for the building of healthy families.

As I reflect on the efforts that have been, and are being, made across political administrations, I am convinced that if there is strong focused leadership, adequate funding, and creative partnerships much can be accomplished through the National Parenting Support Commission. The Parenting Place programme must be given new life, more funding and energetic, committed leadership.

SPIRITUAL INTERVENTION

The second level on which the war against crime and violence must be waged is on the spiritual. Spiritual intervention relates to helping people find meaning and purpose in life. Finding purpose in life cannot be disconnected from experiencing spiritual transformation. If people are not changed from the inside out, many of the other measures and systems put in place will result in mere temporary fixes.

Social change will not last if there is no spiritual change. This charge must be led by the Church. The Church, therefore, must be clear about its mission. The writer of the wisdom book, Ecclesiastes, makes it clear that life without a spiritual centre, without reverence for God, can become meaningless.

When there is no sense of hope or when hope is rooted in false expectations, then it will lead to frustration and anger. As a church community, we have to avoid schemes and doctrines that make people feel that there is an easy way out of hardship, struggle and suffering. The Christian community should help to equip people with an understanding of what is meaningful living.

The life and ministry of Jesus Christ focused on abundant living marked by worship and loving relationships and service. The church of Jesus Christ, in this season, must therefore recommit itself to the Jesus mission.

As a pastor, I am the first to confess that some of us have been distracted from our core mission of reaching and discipling those who are seeking truth, love and hope. Those of us who have become weak and distracted must find our way back and join the army of Christians who, through courageous leadership, godly living and selfish service, are seeking to share meaning and be carriers of hope in this nation.

Spiritual intervention must be prophetic and pastoral. The Christian community must promote justice at all levels of the society. In a space where inequality and inequities strive, the Church has to unmask it, denounce it, distance itself from it and proclaim and practise God’s justice.

HELPING HANDS

The pastoral nature of the Church’s intervention includes giving listening ears and helping hands to those who are victims, those who are most vulnerable and those who have lost their way. The Church’s ministries cannot afford to have only an internal focus. Meaningful ministry must take place in communities, schools, workplaces and homes.

More Christians must become volunteers in schools, sign up and become active in parent-teachers associations and give of our time and resources in seeking to make a difference. Spiritual intervention also includes speaking truth even if it makes the Church unpopular, praying earnestly, even if others perceive this as a waste of time, and sharing the gospel of Jesus in a space that is becoming increasingly secular.

Finally, social and spiritual change cannot be rushed. Investments made now will bear fruit in the future. It means, therefore, that those who conduct training and counselling sessions, those who pray, and those who sponsor programmes, offer scholarships, and start foundations, cannot stop because immediate changes are not visible. We have to sacrifice and invest now, for today and tomorrow. If our children, like the young Xavier ‘Bojo’ Phillips, are to be saved, the government, Church, the business community, the entertainment industry and the education system must have a common vision. The vision must be that we all want Jamaica to “increase in beauty, fellowship and prosperity and play her part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race”.

Rev. Dr. Roy Notice is administrative bishop of the New Testament Church of God in Jamaica. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com