‘Suffer the little children’
Dear Editor,
Seeing and hearing people having a good time at parties and worshipping in church was not of much comfort against the background of two events which unfolded in the month of July as it pertains to our nation’s children.
The first event occurred on the afternoon of Thursday, July 15, the day that the Lord had made, when armed thugs sprayed a section of Arnett Gardens with bullets in a drive-by shooting — a cowardly tactic adopted by local gangs from their North American counterparts. It left little 10-year-old Jaheim Bogle to succumb to his head injury from a fatal shot a few hours later.
Such cowardice is not of the Lord, but the faith of the disgruntled resident who, without anonymity, challenged the moral of the perpetrators of the act is. “Vengeance is [surely] mine,” so says the Lord. As suggested by the The Art of War, authored by ancient Chinese General Sun Tzu, nobody wins when human and structural resources are destroyed — on whichever side (victor or defeated) it transpires. And what is more precious than an innocent child? As one who had descended from heaven once said, “Such [a child] is [like] the Kingdom of heaven.”
The second occurred a few days prior to that bloody day, when the nation lost another child, who was, in this instance, an alleged murderer, only 14 years of age. The youngster was involved in the fatal shooting of a young couple and the wounding of a third at their home in Westmoreland. How did that which is so precious to God and mankind become so devoid of humanity? Is there any hope for him, and us?
The only thing that could cheer up and redeem the faith of a Godfearing witness of such tragedies is to see children singing praises to the Lord. Our children are worthy of us defying or, if needs be, surrendering to the enemy. They are worth our mercies so that they, too, can know the God of mercy. They are the most pleasing gift (sacrifice) that one can offer up to the Lord and, likewise, given to us by Him.