Eternal life is in organisations and the Church is the most enduring. The immolation of Notre Dame de Paris (Our Lady of Paris) is a tragedy for the Roman Catholic Church, Christianity and civilisation.

It got to me and at 4:00 am I sat at my keypad thinking about it and my people in the sweep of history. Black is the largest race after Asian, European next, but last in achievement. There is no developed black nation; Africa will not write its history and Jamaica earned more respect for blacks in 56 years than Africa in 2,000.

Notre Dame is a master work of ancient white creativity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics. I visited as a student and was awed. I had never seen anything 1,000 years old; though confirmed by Bishop Gibson and Canon Clarke in a 350-year-old church.

Why did whites build to last millennia when life expectancy was only 50 years? Why did blacks not build timeless, exalted structures?

Notre Dame is massive; visible for miles; its gargoyles greet 13 million tourists a year yet it’s a community church of mass, communion, baptism and all roads in France start there.

As the flames leapt on TV my heart sank, my mind in turmoil as I am ambitious for my race. From ancient times aspirational people build vertically but not black Africa; so Cabinet’s pancake Parliament is in sync with them but at variance with the Zeitgeist and me.

Our skyscraper police commissioner’s office is aspirational, as is the Grace HQ and foreign affairs building, downtown Kingston. Note, the man who designed our Parliament, freed of Cabinet specs, built a tall mid-town hotel to claim immortality à la Notre Dame. Men yet unborn will curse our visionless Cabinet as Jamaica will build no other Parliament for centuries. Selah.

Notre Dame, western civilisation exists because of the Bible. All God’s works soar! Muhammad was inspired by men who fled the Temple to Mecca so Islam’s tall minarets are of us. Our Lady is not the Basilica in Rome but up there, and Catholic martyrs, saints are ours too. My church broke away as an English King wanted a divorce; the Pope refused so Henry “Brexited” the Holy Roman Empire. History repeats itself! Our Daddy, the Pope, stood up to Kings! Which prelate today?

All churches (not Moravian started by Catholic priest Jan Hus in 500 CE) have Anglican roots; old Baptist, Methodist; new Adventist, Jehovah Witness; fruit-salad churches of God and Rastafari! I was cussed by a Cabinet member who said Adventist was old — here since 1863. Damn fool can’t count years!

Our Lady is a 12th century Roman, Western Orthodox icon and its Eastern Orthodox sister church on the Bosphorus built Hagia Sophia in 537 CE “the world’s largest building; an engineering marvel”. I saw it and marvelled! What was Africa doing before 670 CE when Islam invaded or before 1400 when Europe’s traders came? In 1200 Crusaders declared the Hagia Roman Catholic, but in 1443 Muslim warriors declared it a Mosque; now a museum! National buildings must inspire! Which local building will last 1,000 years?

I admit cognitive dissonance as I support the Pope yet have not left King Henry the wife-beater’s church. But this afflicts those who scream about security guard contracts and the Gig economy, eg Uber, while Communist China’s wage slaves make our machinery, consumer goods and give us loans yet no protest. Necessity sanitises everything!

After the Notre Dame fire Henri Pinault (Balenciaga, Gucci) pledged €110m and Bernard Arnault (Vuitton, Dior) €200m. Would Jesus use this to restore Notre Dame or feed the poor? If you want applause, give to the poor: to be immortal, give to Notre Dame! Some say rich donors don’t value people, but 900 Africans died of hunger on Monday, April 15 and 1,000 in Mozambique floods this week and only God noticed. Humans are replaced daily; Notre Dame is forever! Selah.

God is mysterious. Hebrew tales of a divine-inspired, finely wrought, uber-geometric Solomon’s temple with tessellated floors is uplifting. Yet my fatherland Africa, cradle of mankind, had no ancient soaring built environment or such tales. Africa evolved over millennia through slavery: Arab slavers via Indian Ocean, Berber via the Sahel, European via the Atlantic: now China’s Belt & Road debt may enslave generations. God help Africa!

Two millennia ago Philip gave the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27) a message for Africa; “Praise God, subdue earth and replenish it.” It fell on stony ground. Said message got to Europe much later and they acted, built Notre Dame, plus invented, subdued land, produced abundant food built factories, ships: then sailed for the East; landed in Africa by accident and got producer goods — gold, humans, crops, diamonds.

Africa desired the white man’s consumer goods. Africa rises slowly but if we subdue Tainoland, produce, innovate, build our inspiring Notre Dame, we will uplift all blacks everywhere! Stay conscious!

—Franklin Johnston, D Phil (Oxon) is a strategist and project manager; Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (UK); teaches logistics and supply chain management at Mona School of Business and Management the University of the West Indies. franklinjohnstontoo@gmail.com