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I wept as I read the comments from the family of our latest victim of violence in Bermuda. I wept because a non-gangster was killed at the hands of the violent ones.

I wept because our youth have been crying out for at least 15 years. They have been crying out for attention. Now they have our attention. The question is now what will we do?

On that day, there was no town versus country collision. There was no middle town versus bay collision. Bermuda, do we fully understand that on that day, it was the collision between potential and poverty-stricken mindsets.

Let us be very careful not to simply summarize this sadistic act as an incident where one child wanted someone else's chain. This is not about a chain that one wears about his neck. This is about children feeling chained up. There are children who feel hopeless and have no vision and no dreams of a brilliant future.

Those who attacked and killed this young man could not have killed for a chain. No, they killed because they felt chained to the pitiful circumstances of their own lives.

They are locked up in the corridors of their own minds and therefore, like caged animals, they reach out and retaliate against the person who looks different. These violent persons have hatred and disdain for any person who is able to do better than they are. It is so sad.

To those who feel like a failure, they than begin to create a pseudo-world of bravado and heroism. This pseudo-world depicts them as the super-hero type, where they can swoop down on their opposites, and prove that they are somebody.

The mindset of the violent ones is that of spitefulness. Their thought pattern is that of, "I don't like you because of who you are and what you have. I don't like you because your success makes my failure very obvious."

This is scary, Bermuda. The violent ones are getting younger and younger. Now keep in mind, that throughout this summer, there have been teenage gangs swooping down on party-goers and on those gathering at various venues. It will be these same youth who will be re-entering our school system in just a couple of weeks. Can you imagine the destruction that these violent ones will wage in our schools?

In reading the articles in the newspapers, there is somewhat of a cry out for greater involvement of the churches. As Pastor of Shekinah Worship Centre, let me say that there are many churches all over the island that offer weekly opportunities for the youth to gather and be groomed in a way that will cause them to be positive citizens in the Island of Bermuda.

There are youth groups, Sunday School classes, Sabbath School classes, and church services. All of these are ways in which the church will reach out to help parents.

The question is, will we see your child this weekend, or will your child not enter into a church at all? Come on Bermuda. If you want the benefits of church help, then we will have to work together on this one.

Many bring their children to the House of the Lord to be blessed and this is truly wonderful. However, greater than this wonderful experience, is the opportunity to continue to help direct your children towards the good future that God has for them.

We need to talk to our senior citizens and rediscover the real art of raising children successfully. We will find that in their formula for success, the church was allowed to play a role. Bottom-line, I would rather my child learn disciple at home and in the House of God, than at Westgate Correctional Facility. Remember, it is not about the chain. It is about the symptoms that lead to a violent youth ripping the chain from another.[[In-content Ad]]

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