Hundreds, and even thousands, of Christians have asked me that question.

It leads me to the passage Mark. 4:35-40: “That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, ‘Let us go over to the other side.’ Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’

“He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

“He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’”

The majority of Jamaicans are Christians. There are many denominations but all believe in Christ, the one true, living God. As a spiritual and cultural force we should be able to form and change the ethos of our country, made out of 2.5 million to three million people. We believe in Christ, we respect the name of Christ. Whenever we are in difficulty or whenever we are celebrating we call the name of “Jesus Christ, Almighty God”. I also believe that Jamaicans — rich or poor — are some of the kindest people in the world and some of the most joyful and positive of people. We must not lose these traits; they are the soul of Jamaica.

But we are now subjected to secular and materialistic values. There are nude beaches on the north coast; there is flexi-week on Sundays; there is legalised gambling morning, noon, and night all through Jamaica. There is legalised smoking of ganja, there is drunkenness in many bars, there is semi-nudity of women — even at funerals. There are pornographic movies and shows open for adults and children to see; guns and weapons can be bought.

In recent years, 73 million babies have been aborted annually. God certainly seems asleep, and the world seems to be raging with the storms of destruction.

God is not sleeping, but the world is not listening to the words of God. It is the world that is asleep, lost in selfishness. God wants us to be fully alive, reverencing Him, loving family life, loving the beauty of nature, caring for the children, doing productive and useful work, working for justice and mercy.

There are so many good works to be done. I think of Jamaica and the rich potential for agriculture, yet we cannot feed ourselves as a nation. Farmers, large and small, are discouraged. There is so much theft! We need to import much produce, which we ourselves can grow on our own.

Moreover, the Word of God is so rich with truth and natural teachers of wisdom and God’s word.

Music can be heard in the wind and the rain and in the natural voices of men, women and children singing and presenting drama and dance. There seems to be natural artistic talent in Jamaicans, in tune with the songs of birds, crickets, and animals. God is alive, He is not asleep, but we Jamaicans are not listening. The secular and material world is closing out the beauty of God and His creations.

What we need to do now is to build, in Jamaica, Christ’s kingdom for the poorest of the poor — which gives great joy to the least of our brothers and sisters and those who do not have a vision and purpose in life. Then, the divine voice of God will be heard once again preaching to our nation.