The "Good Ole Days"!

This morning I was thinking about the "Good Ole Days".Days gone by when I was a girl. I lived in the best parish and the best neighbourhood in Jamaica; South St. Elizabeth! I am of course totally entitled to my own biased opinion and since it's the truth anyway?!!

Well I was remembering that 'round about this time of year many of us whose parents were small-holding farmers,had to stay out of school for a couple of weeks,to help with farm work. It was and still is the planting season and every hand was necessary to help. The very survival of the family and the community depended on the harvest. Despite the hard work it was always a good, happy time. There was a feeling of family and community camaraderie that prevailed.

Neighbours helped each other to get the planting done within a set window of time. Children learnt to work together with their parents and we also learnt the importance of taking care of our own to the best of our ability. "Many hands make light work" was a common saying by the old people and it was certainly true in our community. People cared about each other; we shared each others' joys and sorrows,we would laugh together and cry together. Neighbours were usually extended family members anyway and even those who were not,were treated as if they were.

We were not rich in material goods but we were rich in many other ways; ways that mattered most. There was consideration and compassion,there was kindness and kinship,care and concern for even the least among us. There was a bond of family and friendship that tied people together over many generations. It was a community in which decency and good morals were encouraged,poor manners and bad conduct was discouraged,and honor,integrity,respect,and godliness were highly valued.

I wonder what made the difference in our community? Was it because we were a poor farming community and we understood the divine principles of sowing and reaping,of springtime and harvest? Or because so many of our men were fishermen and they shared an awe and appreciation of God's mercies - "they that go down to the sea,witness the power and the glory of the Lord God up close and personal"?

We were a community that confronted life and death as part of the natural process of existence. Children shared in the reality of life experiences. We worked with our parents. We suffered through the loss of crops and the resulting hardships that would follow. The children of the community knew that a father may not return from sea if there were extremely strong winds, a storm or hurricane. We were not shielded from the everyday events that made up a whole life experience. And I believe that these were character-building for all of us.

Today, I am convinced that by and large most of us are strong,determined,hard-working,ambitious and resilient because we were allowed to be an important participant in the real issues and experiences of our community. We were encouraged to be builders of the community in every sense of the word. Understanding and maturity came early to children back then.

Compare that with how things are today. I believe that we now deprive the younger generations of the chance to appreciate and to be fully appreciated for their contribution to family and community by "molly-cuddling" them,way too much. Yes,it is good that we can do "MORE" for our kids in terms of the material provisions we make for them. But by providing everything they ask for whether it is needed or not, without their active contribution or even awareness in many instances of the needs of the family as a unit and the community in which they live as a whole,we do them a disservice.

We are depriving our children of the chance to be the best person that they could become. We ought to wake up to our responsibility; we are letting our children down. We must find ways for our children to have the opportunity to develop sterling characters that will bring honour to God first, to themselves and to their family,community and their country.

Improving on the legacy of our parents is great but if this is at the cost of a moral,caring,sharing,family oriented,community connected society,then we need to start a-weeping and a-wailing for the long gone "Good Ole Days"!! LadyZaidie

Book Burning

So, someone ordered the burning of a man who wanted people to have and read a book. Then they tortured and murdered lots more people because of that same book.

So, one head of government ordered some books to be burnt, then he ordered over 6 million people to be burnt as well and he said he was just going by what was written in a book.

So, some people are still burning that book; they arrest,imprison and murder people because those victims/martyrs believe in what's written in a book.

So someone wants to burn a book. So that makes the news headlines all around the world.

So now,lots of people might start killing other people out of retaliation for the burning of the book.

So people who believe in one book, want to retaliate against the senseless act of killing innocent people,by burning the book on which the beliefs that led to murder were based.

So then, who wins when a book is burnt? Who benefits, who is enriched, uplifted? Who is saved?

The burning of religious books is never motivated by love/Love. It is grounded in fear, hatred, revenge and intolerance. These seeds can never produce anything good.

If we want to reap a harvest of love; love for one another as human beings,then we must sow seeds of love. For whatever a man/woman/boy/girl sows that shall they also reap, eventually.

God is Love. If our actions and/or our words are not about love, then it is against God and in support of the destroyer of souls. Anyone who is not with God is against Him.

So, burn a book and a burning hell might just be ones final destination. "Depart from me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels". Jesus on the Day of Judgment.

As people of the Book - the Bible - we must conform all our thoughts, words and actions to its teachings. Only then will our names be found written in the only book that will matter on Judgment Day; that book is the Lamb's Book of Life. Is your reaction in words and thoughts,to the debate about the burning of the book,pleasing to the Lamb?
"Think on these things". Peace, Love and Understanding in Christ Jesus. Amen. LadyZaidie

Blessings as Always. LadyZaidie.