Wisdom & a quiet heart
"Wisdom is the breath of the power of God, and in all ages entering into holy souls she maketh them friends of God and prophets".
- Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune with The Infinite

"Well, breddah an' sistah, when Omeriah see Nesta, him see a son who carry four strong winds in him chest. Nesta come from de white man, from de black man, from bondage, an' from de banks of de Nile, where de Word shone down upon de Great Pyramid an' de ruins of Tell-el-Amarna.
Dat's why Bob was Omeriah's favourite. Him see the burden de baby carry"

- Ranford Willoughby, Garveyite and Coptic Freemason, quoted in Catch A Fire - The Life of Bob Marley, by Timothy White

Ranford Willoughby - Bob Marley's uncle - was attempting to explain to his other relatives, on the occasion of the death of Omeriah Malcolm, Bob's grandfather, and most formidable friend and ally, the paradox that was the young Bob Marley. A boy who, at four years old, was described by his teacher as being as smart as a child twice his age and who at five years old was accurately reading the palms of adults in his village. A child whose mother noticed that he had "preacher's fire" in his eyes and who, even at a tender age, would go off on little walks in the bushes by himself to sit and 'just think'/ contemplate.

Omeriah Malcolm seemed to have been pretty unusual himself. Highly spiritual, he was a proud black man who neither shared the widespread opinion that it was better to be born brown than black, or fair than brown, nor was he pleased that his grandson - Bob - the product of a union reminiscent of the licence of plantation owners with black women in slavery days - also had a 'slave name' ,Timothy White tells us in Catch A Fire.

His relatives, we are told, understood Bob even less than they understood Omeriah himself, who was not only a relatively wealthy man, but was also an accomplished herbalist and 'myalman' - a person who possessed the knowledge and power to deflect or defuse the machinations of obeah and to heal with folk medicine. He had been taught the ancient myalist arts by his father, Robert "Uncle Day" Malcolm, who was descended from the Cromanty slaves shipped to Jamaica from the Gold Coast in the late 17th and 18th centuries.

As Ranford tells it, Bob's grandmother was descended from the Egyptian people and his grandfather originated from the Cromanty people, the slave people that possessed some of the secret language of Egypt, knowledge of the power of the Word. Power to kill, like 'dem Cromanty curse' and power to heal too like the bush doctor. To know the Word and to speak it was to make the Word of God occur as told in the Gospel of St John.

I am disturbed each time I hear some of Bob Marley's children, or his widow, saying that Jamaicans do not love Bob Marley. Yes, sections of the Jamaican society neither accepted him nor his music before he became famous internationally, but is Jamaica limited to those sections of society? And is this not true of all great persons? Bob was famous here before he got international fame and I was not only one of his earliest fans - fan of the Wailers, but I am also a fan of his sons - Ziggy, Stephen and Damion who have all excelled, establishing their own unique forms of music while maintaining their father's legacy. Of even more importance for this column is that I also had my first real spiritual experience in an encounter with Bob Marley.

Bob Marley's greatness is the result of a unique combination of genius, discipline, resilience, determination and a deep spirituality that was nurtured in his early years by his equally spiritual grandfather, Omeriah Malcolm. His songs of freedom and rebellion and his songs of love allow us to express that which lies deep within us and this helps us to connect with our spiritual persona. He was a true natural mystic!

A quiet heart
(Meditation for your quiet time. Those quiet moments in your special silent place.

"One of the best kept secrets in life is when children of God make up their minds, when they bring their minds into harmony with the desire in their hearts, when they pray for and follow intuitive guidance; then no one and nothing can stop them.".
- Iyanla Vanzant, Acts of Faith (Reading for February 2007)

Marjorie A Stair can be contacted at 601-3841; e-mail loyal@cwjamaica.com.

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