WESTERN BUREAU:
ANGLICAN BISHOP of Jamaica, the Rt. Rev. Alfred Reid, describing Jamaica as a "war torn, battered and bleeding nation" has called for an evaluation of the country's vision in order to understand the problems facing it.
Bishop Reid who was speaking at the opening of the church's 134th Annual Synod last week in Falmouth, Trelawny, said the nation seems to have the wrong set of priorities and is worshipping at the "wrong shrine".
"We all agree that Jamaica has an economic and crime problem but we need to understand the moral, spiritual and theological problem that contribute to our economic and social dilemma," he said. "We need to see how far our problems are the consequence of wrong values, misguided priorities and idolatrous commitments. We need to evaluate what is our national vision."
Bishop Reid pointed to Biblical Israel, which he said suffered defeat in battles, failed crops and an ultimate collapse into Babylonian exile because of wrong priorities, as a lesson to be learnt by Jamaica.
"Having failed to learn from history we are doomed to repeat it," he warned. He said an evaluation of the national vision is something for everyone, "whether we consider ourselves religious or not".
"Let us face the question of what is the real value of the things we most highly prize and what is it to which we give our ultimate loyalty."
Bishop Reid noted that Jamaica needs a "miraculous combination of identity, autonomy and community" with each person "making his or her unique contribution to the common good".
The Anglican Bishop also said that God should be placed high on the nation's priority list.
"Injustice and exploitation cannot thrive where the true God reigns," he said. "We will continue to suffer environmental degradation and ecological disasters until we learn the earth is the Lord's and its fullness thereof. Poverty will persist as long as money and things take precedence over human beings."
