Talking the talk without walking the walk

Apr 13, 2009 Letters

Dear Editor,

In his thoughtful examination of the chasm between the life and activism of Jesus Christ, and its manifestation among believers of that faith thousands of year later, Freddie Kissoon lauds the moral courage exhibited by Jesus Christ and asks, “……..So thousands of years later do we see the emulation of this courage among the worshippers of Jesus?” He answers this rhetorical question in the negative, faulting the failures to possible incapacity of current day believers to grasp the true essence of Christianity.

As someone who was brought up in the essential values of Christianity, but who as an adult lacks the hubris and immodesty to proclaim himself a Christian, I believe that Freddie Kissoon, once again, shines a light on a sacred cow in our religious and spiritual attitudes and behaviour.

Rather than summoning the courage to walk in the moccasins of the activist after who this faith was named prior to assuming the halo, we, as believers, continue to beat on our chests and wail prayers in public, hoping those emotional demonstrations will substitute for our spiritual weaknesses.

Our exhibitions of Christian fealty has become, contrary to the warning of Christ, “vain repetitions proffered as eye candy for the willingly gullible and patently naïve”.

On Good Friday when Christians, world-wide, observed the occasion of the immaculate sacrifice made on their behalf, it behooves them to use the eight beatitudes handed down by Christ from the mountain to the multitude assembled before him, as a measure to determine if they are capable of walking a short distance in his moccasins.

Because it is the courage and capacity to do thus, that provides us with the authority to assume that descriptive title associated with righteous activism. We have to be “Poor in Spirit”, nurturing within ourselves a humility that discards false pride and arrogance, before we win the right to call ourselves Christians.

We need to “hunger and thirst for righteousness”, summoning the courage within to “lay up treasures for ourselves in that place where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and thieves do not break in and steal”, before, with hubris, we proclaim ourselves Christians.

Before being called or recognised as a Doctor or a Lawyer and allowed to minister to the medically and socially ailing, we are required to attain certain levels of qualifications and skills. I wish that the standard of requirement for recognition as a practitioner of the spiritual faith of Christianity was just as stringent.

If I was asked whether in my life time I have witnessed emulations of the courage of Jesus among his worshippers, my personal answer would be a resounding yes.

Throughout the 19th and 20th century, exhibitions of such courage were displayed in theatres of human conflict and suffering all over the world. And for me personally, none embodied the essence of Christian faith and courage more than the activism of Martin Luther King.

On his last day before he was called to duty as a martyr, not so unlike the experience of the time of Jesus Christ, he prophetically intoned, quote, “……….…Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land! And so I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the coming of the Lord…..”

We, as Guyanese, do not need to go back thousands of years to find examples of Christian, moral or ethical courage to emulate.

It abounds in the lives and activism in our hemisphere, from Critchlow, to King, to Kwayanna, and to the many in and of Guyana in the past and currently, who, with courage, choose to speak truth to oppressive and corrupt power. Happy Easter!

Robin Williams

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Talking the talk without walking the walk

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