Two columns in this week's Sunday Gleaner have struck a chord in the writer of the following letter to the Editor. They were Martin Henry's 'Handicaps to growing Jamaica' and Orville Taylor's 'Chambers of horror.'

Mr Frank Lopez writes:

Dear Dr Taylor and Mr Henry,

I read your articles in today's Sunday Gleaner and something about what you both had to say and how you said it resonated with me. What struck me is the focus you were able to place on how badly we Jamaicans tend to treat each other while yourselves avoiding being too harsh with any of your readers in the telling.

We seem to have lost an appreciation for the long- taught, but long-forgotten saying of old that 'A soft answer turneth away wrath'. We seem to have lost an appreciation for the wise old counsel, 'Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you.'

Dying, to the follower of Jesus Christ, should not be so horrible a fate. Living is the challenge that demands faith. Please keep exposing the poor state of our human relationships in our country. Each one of us who knows better should be setting an example, to everyone we meet, of how to behave in the face of evil intent by always treating each other how we would like to be treated.

I am not totally inexperienced in being confronted by workers with evil intent. In my working life, which is now over, I always found that the vilest of persons, when treated with kindness and gentleness, cannot help himself/herself as a spark of kindness breaks through the outcroppings of evil.

Thanks for your articles and may we each learn to listen and obey God's soft-spoken words of guidance which He offers to each and every one of us.

I am, etc.,

FRANK LOPEZ

franklopez@cwjamaica.com