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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>'Doing what it takes'</SPAN>
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
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</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>The title of this column was borrowed from a Christian devotional, "The Word for Today", the Canadian version. I was so moved by the story that I felt it was worth quoting, almost verbatim. The sub-title begins with the verse from the Bible, "I have finished my course" (2 Timothy 4:7-8), and it continues, "Bob Ireland crossed the finish line on Thursday, November 6, 1986, as the New York City Marathon's 19,413th and final finisher - the first person to run a marathon with his arms instead of his legs! Bob, who was 40 years old, had his legs blown off in Vietnam. He recorded the slowest time in the marathon's history, 4 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes, 17 seconds. When asked why he ran, he gave three reasons: (1) to show that being a Christian gives you a plus in life; (2) to test his conditioning; (3) to promote physical fitness and courage in others. "Success is not based on where you start", he said, "it's where you finish - and I finished." Wow! With two good legs and all our faculties, most of us won't ever get out of bed an hour earlier to discover and pursue our God-given destiny.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It continues, "Success always comes at a price. Cicero practised speaking before friends every day for 30 years to perfect his eloquence. Milton rose at 4 o'clock every morning to have enough hours for writing his Paradise Lost. Gibbon spent 26 years on his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Noah Webster laboured 36 years writing his dictionary, crossing the Atlantic twice to gather material. Byron rewrote one of his poetic masterpieces 99 times before publication, and it became a classic. Before the apostle Paul wrote: "I finished my course," he said: "I have worked harder, been put in jail oftener, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again and again." Go ahead, measure yourself by that standard! Then ask yourself, "Am I willing to do what it takes?"<P class=StoryText align=justify>This is a story for such a time as this in Jamaica. Our country requires, as a matter of extreme urgency, a cadre of people who are prepared to do what it takes to pull us out of the deep crisis we are in, and let no one fool you, we are in a very, very deep crisis. The country's inner-city communities are now operating as de facto, self-governing fortifications.
The only thing left is outright secession from the state, and there is enough fire power in any area for the criminals to do exactly that they want, and more. Not only are most of the communities under self-rule, but many of them are being run by adolescents or very young adult males. Some of them are being run by young men who are behind bars. I was shocked to see the photos of two young men, who didn't look older than 16, who I was told had ordered the murders of eight people from their prison cells. Their orders were carried out. The eight on the hit list were all murdered.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I spent a few hours over the past weekend moving through an inner-city community talking to the young men. The picture is very grim indeed. One of them had just been released from prison. When I asked what he had gone to prison for, his reply was, "Everything Miss, aggravated assault, shooting with intent, attempted murder, and more."
He did two years and is now back on the streets with absolutely nothing to do with his life. When I asked, "So what now, what are you going to do?" his response was, "Well, Miss, me no have no job, we no have no
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=350 align=center border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description></SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>The title of this column was borrowed from a Christian devotional, "The Word for Today", the Canadian version. I was so moved by the story that I felt it was worth quoting, almost verbatim. The sub-title begins with the verse from the Bible, "I have finished my course" (2 Timothy 4:7-8), and it continues, "Bob Ireland crossed the finish line on Thursday, November 6, 1986, as the New York City Marathon's 19,413th and final finisher - the first person to run a marathon with his arms instead of his legs! Bob, who was 40 years old, had his legs blown off in Vietnam. He recorded the slowest time in the marathon's history, 4 days, 2 hours, 48 minutes, 17 seconds. When asked why he ran, he gave three reasons: (1) to show that being a Christian gives you a plus in life; (2) to test his conditioning; (3) to promote physical fitness and courage in others. "Success is not based on where you start", he said, "it's where you finish - and I finished." Wow! With two good legs and all our faculties, most of us won't ever get out of bed an hour earlier to discover and pursue our God-given destiny.<P class=StoryText align=justify>It continues, "Success always comes at a price. Cicero practised speaking before friends every day for 30 years to perfect his eloquence. Milton rose at 4 o'clock every morning to have enough hours for writing his Paradise Lost. Gibbon spent 26 years on his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Noah Webster laboured 36 years writing his dictionary, crossing the Atlantic twice to gather material. Byron rewrote one of his poetic masterpieces 99 times before publication, and it became a classic. Before the apostle Paul wrote: "I finished my course," he said: "I have worked harder, been put in jail oftener, been whipped times without number, and faced death again and again and again." Go ahead, measure yourself by that standard! Then ask yourself, "Am I willing to do what it takes?"<P class=StoryText align=justify>This is a story for such a time as this in Jamaica. Our country requires, as a matter of extreme urgency, a cadre of people who are prepared to do what it takes to pull us out of the deep crisis we are in, and let no one fool you, we are in a very, very deep crisis. The country's inner-city communities are now operating as de facto, self-governing fortifications. The only thing left is outright secession from the state, and there is enough fire power in any area for the criminals to do exactly that they want, and more. Not only are most of the communities under self-rule, but many of them are being run by adolescents or very young adult males. Some of them are being run by young men who are behind bars. I was shocked to see the photos of two young men, who didn't look older than 16, who I was told had ordered the murders of eight people from their prison cells. Their orders were carried out. The eight on the hit list were all murdered.<P class=StoryText align=justify>I spent a few hours over the past weekend moving through an inner-city community talking to the young men. The picture is very grim indeed. One of them had just been released from prison. When I asked what he had gone to prison for, his reply was, "Everything Miss, aggravated assault, shooting with intent, attempted murder, and more."
He did two years and is now back on the streets with absolutely nothing to do with his life. When I asked, "So what now, what are you going to do?" his response was, "Well, Miss, me no have no job, we no have no
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