OUR inherited cultural traditions and the Hebrew text we know as the Bible, have fused into the thinking that has shaped the perspectives of most Guyanese. The paradox of my mother going to church and coming home humming a hymn, then to have me cut ‘Brian Pimpler’ – a thorn stick with a strong offensive smell that grew along the coastal belt- that was then placed above the windows of the room that my then, baby twin brothers slept in, which also included a manicole [palm] broom, just in case- epitomised the fusion of Folk and Christian compatibility. There was a proverb in adult conversation to address every situation and to convey secret messages above the interpretation of leering little ears.

PARENTING
Parents are blamed when their children explore the forbidden and fall into public embarrassment.The children are accused by the social self-righteous onlooker, to be paying for things their parents did wrong in this or perhaps some other life. Few have considered that from every ancient text, including the Bible, that an adult, over 18 or 21 years old is accountable for his or her actions. That there is the phenomenon of peer pressure or temptation, that suggests an alternative to parental guidance to a susceptible mind, possibly inclined to be led into some envied glorious space that parents would have denied the indulgence off.

Our folk culture is alive with proverbs old and sayings new that define the upsurge of adolescent rebellion, its aspirations, pretentions and at times lifelong consequences. We hint to ‘Yard fowl highfalutin’, ‘Bourgeoisie sweet scent, but dutty story still smell‘, ‘Who deh flouncing pon now?’ ‘Ambition higher than de position’ and much more. The recent years of ‘Gun men’, ‘proper people’, ‘Boss man’ that relates to instant drug money and glory, have lured many young people to acquire no skills, limited education, a cul-de-sac of vulnerable knowledge base and low self-esteem, if unable to indulge in conspicuous consumption have infected them with a blame ‘someone’ syndrome. This applies also to educated ones also with an unrealistic sense of entitlement. But I have found the source of challenged parenting further back; much further back, to Genesis Chapter 1. Yes, the metaphoric story of Adam and Eve. God instructed them both: “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, thou shall not eat of it: for in the day thou eatest thereof thou shall surely die.” Yet the serpent reasoned with Eve to eat, and Eve ate and gave Adam and he ate, and when confronted by God neither took responsibility for their actions and asked for forgiveness, they instead both blamed somebody else. Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent, on behalf of the serpent he merely suggested, and not through some intoxicating means compelled- I can argue this with any pastor – that the sin of Adam and Eve is that neither was honest enough to ask forgiveness and admit to personal responsibility.Is the ability of self-responsibility difficult to embrace rather than ‘Is you mek suh?’ Is this an innate flaw passed on to us from our original ancestors? Or is this a weak escape that betrays the tremendous gift of ‘Free choice’, because God acted on the consequences of disobedience and threw them both out of the garden, thus, it is the consequences of actions that count and not the blame game.

The other Biblical term we have come to abuse and trivialise is the term ‘Blessed’; a trick theme no doubt applied by people who practice ‘Priest Craft’ which is a term used to describe religious con men, who flaunt ‘Highly Blessed and Favoured’ most times. It’s a celebration of some monetary or social achievement, even some drugs that got through the dragnet. The term, however, is not applied to the zest of material gain in the eight or nine times it was used in the Bible, but rather in defining character and substance to which material things follow as an accoutrement of needs and wants. We grew with the proverb “nawh dig hole fuh spite, or yuh gon fall in it yuhself”. We live in an expanded age of treachery rather than respect and acknowledgement, the currents of modern survival suggest that our living, social and public display needs are more, thus we extend less empathy. Rewards should be an expectation of efforts made, but it’s a fact that ‘Wisdom is better than Gold’. Wisdom translates to understanding the obvious and extended needs that your talent (or skill) can serve, and needs are physical and philosophical, combined they nurture logic and imagination, the creative formula of edge industry and inspiration, that at times go against the grain of things within the tribal customs and “accustomsy”.
Like children, some will stray and blame, some will stand with you, likewise talents need nurture, research, attention and original expression, not ‘De bad wuk man blame he tools’ the blame game is easy to do, don’t bury your talent, like the lazy servant who buried his talent and complained. We’re back in the scriptures again, but once we recognise how ancient some of the human problems we are facing today are, it will enable us to triumph over them with much less stress, because the references are there.