The world as we know it is changing. The assumptions on which many of us based our sense of security have been shattered. Our faith in world systems has been destroyed by the events of the past few months. This man-made centre cannot hold.
Many of us have been brought up to believe that if we mad enough money and invested wisely, saved in the bank and acquired assets, then that would make us financially secure. We put our trust and our faith in this world system, believing that it would provide security and prosperity for us all our lives, if we did as it said.
Clearly, the financial crisis that began in the United States and which has spread to the rest of the world, gives clear indica-tion that this system is not fool-proof. Even though our Government would want us to believe that Jamaica will not be very affected by this fall-out in the financial sector in the US, we know otherwise.
Jamaica depends on the remittances which come from Jamaicans overseas and this, most certainly, will be affected by the number of persons who have been and will be losing jobs in the US. The impact on tourism will be enormous. We have not yet begun to see the full impact of the global financial crisis. If we cannot depend on our wealth to provide security, what then can we depend on?
Developing other wealth
We need to look at developing wealth in our relationships: relationship with God and relationships with people. That is where the real wealth resides. When we develop a strong relationship with God, it gives us a sense of security that is not just based on physical realities, but on spiritual realities. These realities are not determined by our physical circumstances, but by an intimate relationship with God. The possibility of having a sense of His presence with us is not mumbo jumbo, as some would think, nor is it a figment of our imagination. The proof of its reality is seen in the impact a relationship with God has on the lives of those who practise living with a sense of His presence daily. The changes in the physical realm do not destroy their peace. It, rather, strengthens their determination to know God even more.
We need to shift our centre to something that remains unshaken no matter what our circumstances are.
Relationships
The other area we need to give priority to, in order to develop a sense of wellness and security, is our relationships with our family and friends. In our society, money has become the driving force for many persons' actions. If they have money, they plan to get more, and if they do not have money, they plan how to get it. This desire absorbs the minds of many people. In the drive to acquire money, many persons forego building relationships, because it takes too much time. We see this principle operating in the breakdown of family relationships in this country. It does not matter what socio-economic level the individual is at, whether upper or lower class.
Some members of the professional class are driven by a need to be the best at their jobs, to climb the social ladder, to be seen on page two of the newspaper. They leave their children to be brought up by helpers and then wonder how they are not able to relate to their teenagers when they try to influence their behaviour. They have lost the opportunity of investing in their children's development by choosing upward mobility instead of time to pour values and standards into their children's lives at an early age. They find out that the relationship with their children has been badly damaged because they did not spend time with them while they were young children. Then there are those who feel that if they give their children the material things that they want, that it will make up for the lack of time that they spend with them. These parents are usually in shock when their children begin exhibiting destructive behaviour. Having alienated their children, they find themselves growing old without the emotional support that they need from a close family structure. Money, it is clear, cannot buy close family relationships.
Then, there are those persons who go abroad to work for the mighty US dollar. They produce the barrel children. The phenomenon of these barrel children has become well known in Jamaica. These mothers might come back to Jamaica when the children are grown, to find out that they are strangers and that these children feel no emotional bond with them. Money cannot build relationships.
Network of close friends
Apart from our families, we need to build strong relationships with a network of close friends. It takes time to build relationships. Whether we maintain relationships that we have built from our school years, whether from attending our social clubs or churches, we must spend time to build them and invest in them. Many persons who do not have strong family ties but who have close friendships find that in times of distress and ill health, they can depend on these friends to assist them. Money cannot provide a good friend who will be there to go through the bad times with you. Many times the 'friends' whom we gain because of our material things leave us when the times get bad. True friends are those who give of themselves to others even when it is inconvenient to do so.
Strong family ties and lasting friendships are centres that are worth forming. Together with a strong relationship with God, these aspects of life are what will hold when the man-made structures crumble around us.
As the wise man Solomon says, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."
Esther Tyson is principal of Ardenne High School, St Andrew. Feedback may be sent to columns@gleanerjm.com.
