The Editor, Sir:

Three readers were good enough to respond by personal email to my letter of July 21, captioned 'No peace without prayer.'

One (in the United States) disagreed quite candidly with my outlook on the involvement of Church with State, and one (back a 'yard') with the prospect of Jamaica being redeemed from societal violence. Because their comments reflect the views of many, please permit me to respond here.

I confess that I am a sporadic rather than a daily reader of The Gleaner. My daily news of Jamaica comes more from direct communication with family, friends and Christians there. However, an inner prompt often leads me to The Gleaner or Jamaica Observer website and, if time allows, I take the opportunity to initiate 'Letter to the Editor' dialogue, counting it a privilege to participate in this local exchange while resident abroad.

One writer aimed to inform of 'the facts on the ground', saying that because I don't live in Jamaica, I "have an unbalanced assessment of the situation."

He urged, "You need to be realistic. God may work miracles but not in Jamaica at this moment."

Trust me, he continued, going on to describe the inevitability of "political dogs of war" wreaking havoc and mayhem.

With all due respect, I contend that my perspective is actually more balanced than the outlook he presented.

I was actually domiciled in Jamaica as recently as December 2005, completing a five-month stint of grandmothering a frequently hospitalised child, housekeeping, teaching at Ardenne High School, surviving on public transportation not only in the Corporate Area but to and from Cambridge in St. Andrew, inhaling ganja pollution to access minibuses in Papine, being a commuter captive to nasty lyrics at ear-splitting volume, being aggressively railed on by Rastafarians for my Christianity, standing in long lines, paying bills, eating at Tastee - living there!

Beyond the natural eye

But also, I share a perspective with many others, which extends our 'visual' field beyond what meets the natural eye. I daresay, we have the advantage of factoring into the 'reality' equation, God's world view.

This is not an airy-fairy wafting of wishful thinking, or the fanciful fabrication of religious fanatics. It is based on the most enduring, most revered, most influential revelation of divine knowledge known to man - the Bible.

Make no mistake - to combine divine revelation with physical perception is the only way to fully comprehend reality, and in particular to apprehend the possibilities for our future. So, I refute in Jesus' name, the prognosis quoted above - which amounts to Jamaica having become literally God-forsaken.

There is no place on earth, or moment of time, in which God cannot work miracles. There is no evil that can survive the united, fervent, Holy Spirit-led prayers of the Church. The last say does not go to those who believe "the current political campaign in Jamaica is bloody and will get worse." A nation of praying churches can supersede that prediction.

When Christians back off and believe the lie that they have no place in matters of state, they abdicate the ambassadorial role to which God appointed them in the nations.

Represent the Kingdom

We are to preach the gospel, yes; but our mandate extends also to representing the Kingdom of God and bringing its influence to bear on the earth.

For those with the aptitude, this may include holding public office, and there is nothing wrong with that.

For the rest of us, it means being a constructively vocal and active majority, or minority, as the case may be.

I am, etc.,

M. EVANGELINE ANDERSON

meanderson@rogers.com

1008 Buckskin Way

Ottawa, Ontario

Canada

Via Go-Jamaica