Dear Editor,

 There is a faith-testing question which is often asked in times of tragedy: Where was God?Fathers here on Earth are often challenged with similar questions. Like human fathers, though, God can be marginalised, shunned, insulted, and prevented from sufficiently participating in His children’s lives. To me this is a most plausible basis for Jamaica’s social ills. And yet mothers keep doing it. Many will go to the extent to say that “the child might as well didn’t have a father”. But this is like saying that there might as well be no God.Both are equally dangerous.A middle-aged lady recently expressed how puzzled she was at her sense of worry over her elderly father who recently fell gravely ill. She explained that he had been absent from all her life, both physically and emotionally. I suspect this is a deep, and often hidden, appreciation of the “father part” of us. As the said lady had realised, and what the Jamaican society is increasingly failing to recognise, the denial of this paternal force is detrimental.Our fatherless children will fail to overcome hurdles that might seem to be insignificant, even when they have turned out to be ‘successful’ in life. Even simple things like a good appetite, restfulness, ability to swallow pills, not being paranoid over lizards and ‘duppies’, piety, respect of authority, etc, can be improved by a greater father-child relationship. Unfortunately, we are more likely to lament the financial deficits of a father’s absence. 

Andre O Sheppy

Norwood, St James

astrangely@outlook.com