Faith and Life Blog

  September 19, 2024 • Lona For God has not given us a spirit of fear…2 Timothy 1:7 As a young woman, one of my dreams was to learn to drive and eventually purchase my own car. I kept the dream at the back of my mind for many years, but finally, in the late 1990’s I decided to take the plunge. Armed with my learner driver “lunatic” licence and the knowledge gained from reading the driving manual, I found myself a driving instructor and embarked on the journey of learning to drive. I was ready to put the theory into practice. My first driving lesson was a lunchtime lesson. At the time I was working at Jamaica Information Service (JIS) on Half-Way-Tree Road. My first mistake was to assume that, as is the custom with most driving instructors, we would head to the National Stadium or some other quiet area to go over the basics for the first lesson. Was I wrong! I was in for a surprise! We proceeded down Half-Way-Tree Road and turned onto Oxford Road in the heavy lunchtime traffic. The ...

I am sure you have often heard the phrase 'comfort zone', but what does it mean? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a comfort zone is  a  situation  in which you  feel   comfortable  and in   which  your   ability  and  determination  are not being  tested . A Google search returned the following definitions:         1.  A  settled working method that requires little effort and yields only barely                     acceptable results.          2.  A situation where one feels safe or at ease.   Having established a comfort zone, I am sure we can all identify with this state. In fact, it is a place where most of us like to be. It is a place of ease, where little effort is required. It's life on Easy Street. I borrow a few lines from the theme song from the old TV comedy of the same name: I love to li...

  Recently, I went to the Inland Revenue Department (Tax Office) to conduct business. I arrived at about 8:15 a.m. and joined the line, anticipating the 8:30 a.m. opening. The sun was already brutally hot, and I wondered if the powers that be had ever thought of covering the entire waiting area, so that clients could be a little more comfortable while waiting. I had totally forgotten that it was a common practice for some public sector workers to be given a ‘bligh’ at the Tax Office, once they showed their work identification. I went anticipating a long wait, so I brought a book to read in order to make pass the time profitably. As I stood in the line, I saw someone with a familiar face and a huge smile approaching me. I smiled back, but for the life of me could not remember who she was or where we had met. I had seen her twice before at the Tax Office and realized that she was an employee but did not get a chance to speak to her. Now here she was standing in front of me – The thir...