THE EDITOR, Sir:
I AM extremely heartened by the fact that the Standing Orders Committee of the House of Parliament is looking at the prayer which is used before the sittings of our Houses of Parliament. It demonstrates, I hope, that our political leaders are still sensitive to religious/spiritual issues. This is a reassuring sign for our country, especially in this time of social unrest.I am in agreement that the old prayer which begins with the words "Almighty God by whom Kings reign and Princes decree justice...", not only fails to reflect our present political, social, and religious situation but also implicitly reminds us of the colonial (plantation) era when wisdom and counsel were seen as the possessions of the masters to be passed on grudgingly to the slaves.
Rev. Ernle Gordon's submission to the Standing Orders Committee has many useful suggestions, but I have a few objections. First and foremost, the prayer is just too long and even though I would like to see our leaders pray more we need to remember that it is Parliament, not a prayer meeting.
Too many specifics are mentioned, what we need is a more general prayer which will encapsulate much in a few words. We will leave the nation to pray for the Governor-General, Prime Minister, Leader of the Opposition, Speaker of the House, Senators, and Parliamentarians etc., at home, at church and at the National Prayer Breakfast.
With regards to the gender of God, and the Rev. gentleman's quest to be politically (gender) correct, he could have just said "O God our parent".
Naturally, the issue of the language used in the prayer under review caught my attention since I am currently studying linguistics at UWI. I am in total agreement that any prayer which is used before sittings of the House should reflect contemporary language and not that of the Shakespearean age.
Therefore, "Thy", "Thine", and "cometh" will just not do.
To play devil's (linguist's) advocate I propose that a sure way to make Jamaicans feel that the prayer is their own is to render it in Jamaican Creole. Or do we believe that God cannot understand us, or he will refuse to hear us if we pray to him in Jamaican? Such a prayer would be not only a linguistic revolution for the country but a religious one also. A prayer for Parliament in Creole would signal to the masses that it is okay to speak to the Heavenly Father in our native tongue.
I am etc.,
JOSEPH T. FARQUHARSON
jotifa@yahoo.com
A.Z. Preston Hall
University of the West Indies
NOTE: For text of Creole prayer tomorrow's Sunday Gleaner.
