FOR the Christian Church across the globe, we are now in the season of Lent, a season which began on Ash Wednesday. Although in popular thinking we speak of Lent as being of 40 days duration, it does in fact last for 46 days, but the intervening six Sundays are regarded as feast days and not fast days and so are not counted.

Lent is a season that invites us to take a realistic look at ourselves as human beings before God, the Creator, and as such, emphasises penitence for our estrangement from God and the broken relationships as we live out our lives in community, and which constitutes a state of sinfulness.

The season then becomes a time to pause from the constant rush of life, and to pursue a period of intentional self-examination and the practice of various spiritual disciplines in preparation for the celebration of the restored relationship with God and our fellow human beings, as direct benefits of the death and resurrection of Jesus which Easter signifies.

Lent then invites us to a more sombre moment of reflection on life, and to lay aside, confess, or even renew some aspects of our life — both corporate and individual. While the print media is not in the business of fostering religious devotion among its readers in this holy season, I could not help seeing in the publications of last weekend a call to the nation to engage in a sombre reflection on life which is consistent with the purpose of this holy season.

One newspaper carried a headline which read ‘Corruption Capital’ and which went on to carry a story of the results of research conducted by the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP), based at the Vanderbilt University in Tennessee, which found that “80 per cent of our Jamaicans think that our public officials are rotten”.

The article went further to speak of these figures as alarmingly high. At the same time the article pointed out another aspect of the research findings, namely, that “only 7.8 per cent of Jamaicans have reported direct experience of corruption, victimisation or petty corruption”. That there is this gap between perception and experience may be the subject of debate, and one can only ask the question whether this is indicative of an exaggeration of the perception or a denial of the operation of the tentacles of corruption.

Either way, the truth of the matter is that this nation has a problem of major proportion in the level of corruption which exists in our society, and we will never be able to make serious headway in addressing this cancer without first acknowledging and confessing its existence and our collaboration with its perpetuation.

Alongside this headline was another lead story which was entitled ‘Nobody’s Children?’ The sub-head discloses the appalling fact that “close to 100 (are) held in lock-ups described by human rights advocates as unhealthy and inhumane”. Successive Jamaican governments have signed on to international agreements which commit us to the humane treatment of our children, and yet we can still see such violations being perpetuated, only to be characterised, when the issue comes to public attention, by statements by those in governance that the situation is being addressed as some palliative steps are taken for the next few weeks and months.

Soon we are back to business as usual. Where is our sense of outrage that our children can be treated in such a manner by the public institutions which act in our name and on our behalf? Or is this just a matter for the Children’s Advocate or the human rights advocates so that we can absolve our consciences by finding one scapegoat on which to lay the sins of the nation?

Although this sample points to an incarcerated population of 100 children, we cannot but wonder what is the lot of the thousands of abused, abandoned, neglected, and unloved children in our society. We seem to think that our society is judged only on the basis of the capital crime that leads to our high murder statistics, but perhaps even more serious is what we are doing to the lives of these children while they still have the semblance of life in them. No wonder some of the children who have opted for an antisocial life and a life of crime can declare with anger and defiance “mi dun dead a’ready”.

Clearly, our leaders in governance and the adult population of this country must now acknowledge and confess the ways in which we are failing our children, and in an act of true repentance, resolve to provide a better path for the children of this nation.

The saga of the commission of enquiry now underway at the Jamaica Conference Centre continues as a kind of spotlight on the political leadership of this country and the dynamics of party politics which have this country in a deadly hold. I am yet to encounter persons who touch on the subject of this commission and not approach it with bemusement and cynicism. Even the party loyalists adopt such a posture in the celebration of the so-called victory and vindication of their party, which unfortunately, the majority of this society is unable to share.

The commission was established in a context of public mistrust and a seeming lack of credibility and integrity in the handling of the United States extradition request for Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke, and in the perception of people of an unhealthy alliance of political leaders with criminal elements within the society. Notwithstanding the formal language in which the mandate of the commission was framed, the point is that the bemusement and cynicism of the population will overshadow any outcome of the commission and is already a telling sign that the people of this country have no confidence that this probe is going to take us one step further on the path of nation building. The expected illumination is daily turning into darkness where this commission is concerned.

As if that was not enough, the political leadership remains under the spotlight as Mr Everald Warmington has staged his competing drama which seems to have a similar storyline as the main show. I have no reservation in saying that the comments from this member of parliament and high-profile member of the Government have been consistently inappropriate and have been allowed to continue without any serious acknowledgement from the leadership of the party that this type of behaviour is not appropriate for those in leadership positions in its ranks.

It may very well be that politics is about winning seats in the electoral process, and Mr Warmington is a sure winner for his party in his constituency, but one would hope that the political leadership of this nation would have something of socially appropriate behaviour of its representatives which it wants to uphold and convey to this nation. If crassness and crudity are what it takes to win an election on a party ticket by any political party in this country, then we are in bad way, and the message to the youth of this nation is unacceptable.

In this connection I can truly say that in the midst of the gloom of this weekend, a ray of hope burst forth which became a part of my Easter during Lent. The lead story of this newspaper on the same day was entitled “Ex-gangsters steer youth from crime”.

The story, which featured a group of young men who are ex-convicts, and who form what is known as ‘Men With a Message’, is an exhilarating change from the adult world of leadership which has been characterised elsewhere. Here are young men, often labelled the problem of our society, who are acknowledging the wrongs they have done by involvement in criminal activity and for which they have paid the price by having been incarcerated, and who now are not only speaking about repentance by turning their lives around, but are developing a level of social awareness and responsibility which is befuddling.

Without using the language of theology which is appropriate to Lent, they speak of a vicarious suffering on behalf of other young men who are at risk. In plain language they declare that “we spend time in prison for you already, so you don’t have to do that. Leave the crime and violence alone. It is not worth it”. Of course, credit must go to the sponsoring body Citizen Security and Justice Programme (CSJP).

There is so much of irony here that boggles the mind. While those in governance and leadership generate bemusement and cynicism, here are young men, ex-convicts, who are bringing to this society a ray of hope. We need only note that across the globe there are various changes taking place in the Middle East and North Africa, which have been labelled as “revolutions”, as they demand changes in governance in their countries.

These revolutions are being driven by the youth in these societies. Perhaps it may yet be the case that, if those adults in leadership cannot heed the call, it may fall to the youth to transform this society, even the seemingly most unlikely ones.

Howard Gregory is the Suffragan Bishop of Montego Bay