I'll tell you one thing, give Jamaicans some free time, and they'll ensure they don't waste a minute of it. One thing that a lot of people in the Corporate Area do when they find themselves with some downtime, is take the trek to Hope Gardens in St Andrew, to fritter their time away as they please.

It was around midday on Tuesday, when I got there, so to be honest, I half expected to find the place close to empty. Boy, was I wrong.

Our story picks up under a large, withering old tree close to the pond, where I found Ras Milo, a 50-something-year-old mason, fast asleep on a bench. He was sporting a red tam, had discarded his red shoes and was snoring so loudly that it sounded more like an 18-wheeler shifting gears on Spur Tree.

As I was walking by, he shifted position and opened his eyes.

"Eh? Ah wah dat?" he said.

"Huh? I didn't ... ," I started to respond, but was cut off.

"Yuh see one red pickney bout yah?" he asked. I told him I hadn't.

"Yuh know from when mi send di bwoy go Papine fi buy two bunch ah callaloo, and all now him nuh come back," Ras Milo shouted, looking annoyed. I made something of a wise remark about the boy returning to find him asleep, and taking the callaloo home to have it himself. I chuckled heartily, expecting the sleepy mason to do the same. Well, let's just say that the wisecrack did not go over too well with Ras Mason, who promptly denounced me and mine and sent me on my way. As I walked off, the man quickly curled up in a ball and went back to sleep.

As I was walking away, a loud shriek stopped me in my tracks.

"Hala shalabamba!" I spun around to see what was happening and found that a group of mostly women, all wearing white, had gathered in the shade of a mango tree nearby. I moved closer to see what was happening.

The women had broken out in a rousing rendition of Closer Than A Brother.

"He's my dearest friend, in everything I need," they sang, while twirling, jumping and shouting to their hearts' content. A happier bunch you could not find. Soon, the song was over and an older woman, whose head was wrapped with a white cloth, started speaking to the group.

"Now bretheren, when your enemies seek to persecute you, with bad mind and evil wishes, I say to you, take not revenge, for God says revenge is mine," the woman shouted and the group responded with hollers of approval. I inched closer.

"And even when the bad-minded people think they can control you, they can't, for God will strike them down," she said.

Now one woman in particular, really got into the spirit of things and started shouting. "Shamba shakalaka!" She danced as she shouted.

Circle of believers

They sure do get into it. A group of church-goers sing praises at Hope Gardens. Photos by Robert Lalah

I inched even closer.

The woman in the centre of the circle of believers started speaking again.

"So, bretheren, when God speaks to you, you must listen. For God don't speak to everyone. Some people too bad mind, so dem can't talk to God, so when Him talk to you, yuh must listen," she said.

I was staring at the woman who was still chanting phrases I didn't understand, when the woman in the centre of the circle shouted in my direction.

"Hello sah! Yes you, come closer!" she said. I looked around, pointed to my chest and asked if she was talking to me. "Step closer and let the word of God sweep over you. Step into the circle of the Lord!" she said.

"Maybe later," is what I remember saying.

"Do not put it off! The time for the Lord is now," the woman retorted.

By now, everyone was staring at me. Their eyes felt like lasers piercing my skin. I stepped closer to the woman. The crowd started to applaud. I felt like those people on TV who get called up by shady-looking evangelists to be cured of illnesses with the touch of a hand.

The woman put her hand on my head.

"You have a good and positive soul. God will keep you safe. Stay away from evil-doers and bad-minded people. But fret not for you are a God-bless child," she said.

I have to admit, I felt good hearing that. I mean, I had no idea who this woman was and for all she knew I was a serial killer, but it felt nice to get a vote of confidence, even from a stranger. As I walked out, I passed Ras Milo shifting into third gear.

Ras Milo curls up into a ball and goes to sleep promptly after sending me on my way.