God may be watching from afar

STEVE ALVAREZ

THE RESPONSES were quick and aplenty. Some praising the new Commissioner of Police for her indication that God’s intervention is necessary for an improvement in the crime climate in TT, others suggesting that she should resign and leave the job up to God.

I couldn’t ignore the comments and suggestions as they point to a very important aspect in the lives of all people. That of seeking divine intervention.

One can imagine that there would be many families, churches, holy people, soldiers and lay people praying for God’s intervention in the war in Ukraine, for His blessings and help where crops are devastated by climate conditions, for peace in areas of war and instability, for His intervention in personal relationships and the plethora of situations where despair reigns supreme.

Could it be that in so many situations where humans have tried in vain to arrive at peace and harmony, for example in countries like Haiti, Somalia, Ukraine and TT hot spots, that God is unconcerned?

One can just imagine what would happen if the Creator, the great architect of the universe, decided to answer every prayer. Who would get priority between the prayers of the Russian soldier facing Ukraine’s firepower and the Ukraine soldier defending his country?

Who gets their prayers answered when the husband and wife believe that only divine intervention can alleviate the stress and pain caused by the other?

Could it be that this great supreme power is trying to get humans to find ways to fix their issues? To find out for themselves that love reaps better rewards than hate? That unity trumps divisiveness? That humans are created different from each other to allow one to expand his or her capacity to love, to be tolerant, to be accommodating, to be humble and, moreover, to recognise, love and appreciate the beauty of the human soul with all its variety?

Whenever I encounter arrogant, narcissistic, vain and hateful people, I wonder if they were to make it to a Heaven how would they react to seeing people of all races and classes living in harmony? How would they survive being as ordinary as others?

I want to suggest to the goodly commissioner that she seeks the supreme intervention in her own life to protect her from sudden misfortunes and to give her the wisdom to make sound decisions. But it is unlikely that any supreme interested in humans would intervene in matters that they must fix themselves, if ever they were to be worthy of being present in this universe.

Fixing the environment so that one can prepare for varying climate conditions, dealing with unfaithfulness and selfishness in relationships, structuring the management of communities for peaceful coexistence and arriving at decisions that improve the quality of life for mankind are among the many challenges of life on Earth. They demand the best from every human.

Praying for a supreme intervention may be discarding our responsibility to ourselves and our community.