In a world where there are constant cries of oppression many are waiting for  the revolution of justice.

Even though I teach Peace and Justice we do not always see justice and peace winning in our world, on the contrary we see evil, wars, terrors, biases, deception, hurt and pain continuously winning.
History has finally been made. I feel a similar feeling of joy that the people from the Civil Rights Period must have felt. How brutal it must have been to feel as if you didn’t matter?
Today I see something beautiful outside my window. The colors of the autumn leaves on the trees in a city that is known as ‘dumpster city’ but those beautiful colors have brightened the dirt/ slums making it appear extremely gorgeous.
The colors are bright orange, brown, red, green, yellow representing the colors of the world. Today the 44th president of the US has arisen, a man of different colors, a man with great history who knows what struggles and injustice looks like. , someone who will be a catalyst not only in this country but the world.

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Many great things can happen if you only empower yourself and be the change you want to see. Recognize that in each one of us there is someone great ready to shine. Make a difference in your corner of the world in spite of the challenges, confusion, obstacles, barriers, hurdles, borders or walls.
My hope is that everyone will be set free of mental slavery and pick up the challenge of creating a world of peace, love, unity and justice. I pray that I may practice what I preach and be a heart ready to serve humanity.

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• We miss the point when we pass the man on the street that has lost everything and cries out with dirt on every part of his body with a placard for help.
  W e miss the point when we go over and greet the people we like or those who make us feel good; the intellects and influential groups, beauties etc.
• We miss the point when we willingly choose to live in a community where everyone looks and sounds the same way because we are trying to escape the horrors that other cultural groups may present us with.
• We miss the point when we wear clothes and eat food without being aware of the struggles of the coffee producer in Columbia who was paid less than 20cents per day while his children do not have the opportunity to obtain an education but are forced to farm products which the family will not be able to eat. We sometimes do not of the Dominican woman who labors tirelessly over the expensive sweaters. If only she and her family could get half of what we pay for the goods justice would have been served.

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Reflection

1. Begin introspecting on how we discount the value of different people.
2. How can we develop a heart that will responsibly propel us to act in justice and love?
3. What lesson can we learn from understanding the dignity of individuals inspite of their status?
4. What factors inhibit us from accepting the dignity of each person?
5. In Jesus’ ministry on earth who did he spend most of his time with and why?
6. What are some ways in which we can challenge others to recognize the dignity in all people?

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Reflection

1. How are you walking compassionately with others?
2. Are you willing to journey with other compassionately even when it hurts, even when it is dangerous, even as they go through different deserts of life?
3. How do you feel when are being compassionate?
4. Do you feel like you are the giver or the receiver or do you receive a gift and it becomes reciprocal?

Thomas Aquinas said: “I rather feel compassion than know the meaning of it.” May god help us to realize that fully that we are instruments of service for the rest of humanity and that all people are one people……………”Out of many, one people”

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Matt 22:2-14 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king, who made a marriage feast for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the marriage feast, but they would not come. Again he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “Behold, I have made ready my dinner. My oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage feast!”‘ But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his merchandise, and the rest grabbed his servants, and treated them shamefully, and killed them. When the king heard that, he was angry, and he sent his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. “Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited weren’t worthy. Go therefore to the intersections of the highways, and as many as you may find, invite to the marriage feast.’ Those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. The wedding was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man who didn’t have on wedding clothing, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here not wearing wedding clothing?’ He was speechless. Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, take him away, and throw him into the outer darkness; there is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.’ For many are called, but few chosen.”  (web) http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/pbl18.html

Reflection

• What is your interpretation of this scripture?
• How should you dress for a wedding?
• Do we reject this wedding invitation daily in our faith journey?
• How can we respond to this gospel in our daily encounters with people: the marginalized, vulnerable, ill-treated?

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Before God and All mankind.
I pledge the love and loyalty of my heart
The wisdom and courage of my mind,
The strength and vigour of my body
in the service of my fellow citizen.

I promise to stand up for justice,
Brotherhood and Peace, to work
diligently and creatively,
To think generously and honestly, so that,
under God, our world will
increase in beauty, fellowship
and prosperity, and play her part
in advancing the welfare
of the whole human race.

(Jamaican Pledge)

What if every individual would hold this motto in their hearts? What a difference we would have in the world.

What an impact we would have on those we come across.

 ‘How can I answer YES to my callings in life?’

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True Freedom and moral Obligation

I believe that one of the root problems for this moral degeneration in our society is our philosophy of freedom. Our practice of freedom neglects to recognise the importance of other persons’ rights. Our actions must function in accordance with the rights of others if we are to be considered free at all - I do not steal from you because you have a right to what is yours.

The problem is that over the years we have inherited a fallacy manufactured in western epistemology, called it freedom and lived by it. Freedom today says: ‘I do as I please because I can’. It is interesting to note that that was never the philosophical understanding of freedom in the past century.

Marx who postulated that communism would institute the ‘true realm’ of freedom believed that freedom was “…the right to do everything which does not harm others.” Immanuel Kant believed that freedom is the inevitable consequence of obligation; the sense of ought, which is embedded in human behaviour and self-conscience. Each definition identifies a freedom underpinned by a common constraint - moral obligation. That is what true freedom is!

Therefore, if we plan to function as a free society, every Jamaican must recognise that his deeds are not done in an ethical vacuum but in the context of moral obligations. When no one in a country recognises the rights of another, the sanctity or integrity of life is never considered. The citizens feel free to do as they please, even if it means killing another.

The current violence in Spanish Town, Jamaica, contract killing, inappropriate sexual conduct in schools, increased cases of rape, unrelenting national greed, all result from neglecting the rights of others.

Since the time of Aristotle, political thinkers have agreed that justice exists when persons receive what is due to them. Not recognising the rights of others is also the culprit that abates justice from being administered efficiently in our society. People do as they please not only because they want to, but because they can afford to. When the man violates the speed limit and endangers the life of another he does it because there is a great possibility ‘im’ (he) can buy out the ‘offisah’ (police).

When political leaders implement structures that provide short-term appeasement (for want of a better word) but discount any sustainable development in the economy, they do it because their obligation of accountability to the public has been thrown out with its bath water.

There is need for an effective system that prevents the blatant cases of irresponsibility and lack of accountability on the part of our country’s leaders. If rights are disregarded then moral degeneration of every kind will occur.