For all of those who know me, I am the son of a teacher from a family of teachers. Please if you notice anything wrong about my grammar or punctuation, let me know before Mummy sees it.
12 Months is a long time
In that time,
a lot has happened.
I
have seen my beloved Crusaders all move on to the great Jazz Club in the
sky. Stix Hooper is still around, a drummer without a band. Oh, and they took
BB King with them...
I watched
Leicester, against all expectations, win the title, confounding critics
and sceptics alike, in the year that was supposedly Arsenal's year, (just
like every other year);
I have
seen Donald Trump win the The Apprentice, confounding all logic, and assuring
me that America is still the land of opportunities, especially if your Daddy
gives you a million-dollar start-up loan;
I have
felt some personal family tragedies where young members of my
family have suddenly been taken away in the prime of life - it does make
one think carefully about one's mortality;
There were
peaceful elections in Ghana, but that has made me realise that social media is
a tool that can frustrate decent minds, because suddenly fools of all shades,
with dubious religious credentials, can now all take to the airwaves - and ether - and use
this medium to demonstrate their lack of knowledge and decency for all to
see. There was a time when the village idiot was just that - the village
idiot. Now he (or she even) has progressed to become the Global Village
Idiot.
12 Months
(or more) is indeed a long time...
Faith without works is dead
As a
practising Christian, I have been pushed to the limit to doubt my own sanity
and faith when I observe some of the issues around me particularly with respect
to some of the so-called ministers of religion. The Christian Religion is big
business today (do not mistake this for the Christian lifestyle which can
sometimes be diametrically opposite to what some of what our churches
teach today).
In my
opinion, here are two main extremes with varying degrees of differences in
between. I like to call them the Peterites, after the style of Peter, the Rock
of Christ, uneducated, straight to the point, speaks from the heart,
unpolished, preaching a message of bombastic destruction and no holds
barred language (shitstem) (for us reggae fans, Peter Tosh, if you like).
Then there
are the Paulites, more urbane, world stars, more likely to mix with
intellectuals and royalty, wordy, pithy,
educated (or at least knowledgeable), urbane, witty (For us Reggae fans again,
Bob Marley), no less condemning than the Peterites above but presenting
the message with love, sometimes too much love, if there is such a thing.
In
listening to the two groups of preachers and the array of different sorts
that fall within the range between, I have been careful to
declare always that I am in no position to judge who is right. What I
assuredly declare is who is definitely wrong!!! So, the man who
decides that it is okay to beat teenagers or trample a pregnant woman, or
distribute his own bodily fluids and secretions to church members (or
followers) as a blessing or makes declarations of obtaining funding
by emotional blackmail, or prophesies after the event and then
changes their prophecies midway when things are not going their way, or
take advantage of gullible women seeking a solution to their problems.
I have
seen videos of so-called pastors caught in flagrante delicto with parishioners' spouses
in the name of delivering special prayers, there are those who declare
that their female church members attend church fully covered without
showing any evidence of the fact that they are women or at the other end
of the spectrum, attend services next to naked so that they can feel the power
of the spirit better. Suddenly, worshipping in spirit and in truth is no longer
a thing. True religion which is meant to be loving one another and caring
for the widows and the fatherless is neither fashionable nor trendy.
The only
thing I can say is that if here is any change, let it begin in me. If
there is any of my practices that may put others off my worship or my beliefs
in who I believe is the God of creation and His Son Jesus Christ (I
suppose that very statement alone may put people off, I can't help that),
I pray that I get it right and that my witness will be one of basic but
extraordinary human decency in a world gone crazy over religion.
Taking on New Things
As
somebody who has been in the NHS for a long time, I have found myself
recently working in Mental Health. It is interesting how an
environment can fundamentally change your thinking, your language. I have
stopped saying to people, "You’re mad" when they do or say something
surprising or unexpected. “I must be losing my marbles" when I forget
something. It’s not about political correctness. I think I have become
more sensitive to the plight of others and how quickly one can
descend from what one might consider "good" mental health to
having issues where you require the skills of a professional to help steer you
back to your previous self. Wouldn't it be great if all the
above-mentioned church organisations invested a bit of their membership funds
into helping those with mental health issues?
A Different kind of Bully
A couple
of weeks ago, I posted something about bullies in the workplace.
I would
like to talk about what seems to be a more acceptable, but just as sinister
form of bullying. Spreading gossip in the name of "family". Years
ago, a young man made a momentous decision without establishing a proper
foundation, as he should have; like most young people, he followed his heart
and left his head behind. The decision in later years, caused heartbreak and
pain. The people who matter most – his immediate family, rallied round him and
helped support him till he eventually got back on his feet to lead what is now
a comparatively peaceful and more productive life.
You knew there was going to
be a but somewhere. James, in the Bible talks about the tongue. In James Chapter
3: verses 7 and 8 –
“7 For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of
things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind*:
8 But the tongue can no man tame;
it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."
But some
people just seem unable to let go. And the best way they have dealt with the
situation is by the perpetuation of untruths, by spreading unsubstantiated,
second-hand tales, a collection of half-baked fables, based on destructive
whispers, with wisps of truth, and echoes of facts well past their expiry
dates. “Did you know?” “Have you heard?... “Using one’s position as the older
sibling in a family to destroy less senior members is never justified under any
circumstances.
When the
young man approached me for advice (based on what he had heard about me), I advised
him to concentrate on taking his new life forward, on making the best of his
newfound direction with the support of those who love him. He should let the rumour mongerers stew in their own morass of fables and half-truths.
The sad thing
is these are the people who claim most to be the children of God I am supposed
to relate to (both by the Spirit, and by blood). If this is what I am supposed
to expect from those who I share a common bond with, why should I expect any
better from those who are supposedly strangers to me?
The young man
said to me as we parted company, “If I knew their address, I would send them a
copy of James to read”. “Don’t worry about it”, I replied, “They already have copies
on their bedside tables.” To paraphrase Jesus. Let those who have eyes, let them
read……
My Jazz Recommendation
Back in the
day, Grover Washington Jr was involved in mentorship of the group, Pieces Of A
Dream,. We Are One, for me was one of my favourites of their earlier albums.
