The Editor, Sir:

I am concerned as every other Jamaican about the state of affairs in Jamaica. Increasing violence and crime, high level of promiscuity, corruption in high places, and a misplaced emphasis on the ownership of material things, among others, have caused us to to become a selfish people, lacking in many cases bowels of compassion and the basic ability to be merciful.

A critical element of this decay is the level of parental deficiency in our society. Many homes are lacking a father. Those that have only one parent are mostly mothers and many of these mothers are young and unemployed.

The propensity of the Jamaican male to propagate without commensurate responsibility for the growth and development of his offspring is legendary but true in many cases. How can we affect change in this seemingly hopeless situation?

Reacquaint with God

Leadership must come from the men of this nation. Sunday, June 17, will be celebrated as Father's Day. It would be a good time for our men to reacquaint themselves with God, if they have not already done so. We all need the guidance of a higher power to guide us to prosperity. I submit that if our men begin to have regular conversations with Almighty God, it will cause a significant and positive behavioural change.

In my church, the men's fellowship will be having a week of prayerful activities under the theme: 'Dwell in his Presence'. We will be honouring all the men who attend church on the Sunday and invite them to start or renew a relationship with God. We will open the doors of the church all week so any person who wishes to, can just come in and have a moment of prayer and meditation.

I thought it would be good to invite other churches throughout Jamaica to open their doors, so our men can simply walk in and pray if they so wish.

In this atmosphere of imminent elections, let us all seek God to give us the right leaders throughout all of Jamaica.

I am, etc.,

DEVON BLAKE

devonrb2002@yahoo.com

Secretary, Men's Fellowship

Christ Chapel United

Pentecostal Church

Morant Bay

Via Go-Jamaica