Heaven knows where we going…

Q: Archbishop J, what is the state of the soul of our nation II?

At a 3 Canal concert, entitled Where We Going?, during the Carnival season, my eyes were opened. I sensed a new movement in the unconscious of our people, and I needed to be attentive to it.

Sitting in Queen’s Hall, I recalled other tunes I had heard with a strong theme of hope. But this concert made me realise a movement was taking place in our nation’s soul that needed attention. This theme emerged throughout the whole musical experience.

Although Where We Going? was the last song the group performed, it was impactful and led me to reflect on their other music and, more importantly, on the music of the 2025 Carnival. I will interpret the song through the lens of spiritual direction, particularly St Ignatius’ 14 rules of discernment.

Where We Going?

The song is in the musical genre of Rapso. It begins with a declaration of a movement of the soul and then an ethical challenge that emerges from the movement:

As we move from the dark to light

Plenty can’t tell wrong from right

Tell me where we going

The movement from dark to light is declared as T&T’s new state of being. The Ignatian rules begin by asking that we discern whether the soul is moving from dark to light or light to dark. The spiritual director needs this awareness to guide the soul. Understanding the source of “consolation” and “desolation” is vital.

First Rule: “In the persons who go from mortal sin to mortal sin, the enemy is commonly used to propose to them apparent pleasures, making them imagine sensual delights and pleasures in order to hold them more and make them grow in their vices and sins. In these persons the good spirit uses the opposite method, pricking them and biting their consciences through the process of reason.”

This is a good reading of T&T over the last few decades as we moved to hedonism in our festivals and greed and unbridled capitalism in our economy. The second rule gives the opposite. It speaks of people moving from dark to light:

Second Rule: “In the persons who are going on intensely cleansing their sins and rising from good to better in the service of God our Lord, it is the method contrary to that in the First Rule, for then it is the way of the evil spirit to bite, sadden and put obstacles, disquieting with false reasons, that one may not go on; and it is proper to the good to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations and quiet, easing, and putting away all obstacles, that one may go on in well doing.”

So already we understand, if we are moving from dark to light, the good spirit is giving consolation and the bad spirit is giving desolation. We must understand where the motivation is emanating from.

So, again, looking at the first stanza, we see: Plenty can’t tell wrong from right. This is a cry of desolation that can pull us back into the darkness of despair or acedia, a state of despair of the soul that we looked at last week.

The refrain, “Tell me where we going”, could be read in two ways. It could be a cry of despair as we head into uncharted territory. Or it could express a desire to find out, a yearning for a sense of direction.

Because we know the direction is from dark to light, we know it is a cry of hope, an inquiry into the next phase of our living. This becomes evident in the following lines:

Heaven knows where we going

Are we heading for brighter days?

No more sorrow and no more pain

Tell me where we going

Heaven knows where we going

Now a new element emerges—divine providence—”Heaven knows where we going”. This is why it is vital from the beginning to know the direction of the journey of the soul. It helps to interpret so much in the song. We may not know where we are going, but we are on a journey to God (dark to light) and are in God’s hands.

This is hope in its most classic sense—uncertainty and yet trust in God who knows where we are going. We know that “Hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5), so in this place of suffering and moral confusion, we put our hope in God.

This is the first principle of all spiritual journeys. Are you willing to put your hope in God to lead you through the darkness, the uncertainty and the moral confusion? Without this willingness to put our hope in God, no spiritual journey is possible.

A New Heaven and A New Earth

The second verse opens with the ultimate question:

Are we bound for a new tomorrow

Full of joy and no more sorrow?

Where we going?

Tell meh where we going

Are we heading for brighter days

Where all Jah children can see their way?

It speaks to a new Heaven and a new Earth where, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away” (Rev 21:4).

This is the ultimate hope that God will transform this mess into His kingdom, a kingdom here on Earth: “Where all Jah children can see their way”.

We must hear the far reaches of this cry of the heart. The last official statistics (2005) showed 16 per cent of the population was living under the poverty level. In 2014, another study, which was never made official, put the number at 24.5 per cent. Since then, after Covid-19, more people have likely slipped under the poverty level.

So the line: “Where all Jah children can see their way” is a minimum social justice requirement in a nation that spends billions in its budget annually.

The challenge here is not just the overall percentage of poverty. It is more particularly in the communities with intergenerational poverty where gang activity is high and life chances for the children are very low because of poor education and low community facilities and support to move children out of poverty.

Destiny?

Now, we have the anthem of hope at the core of the song, and I dare say it is an expression of hope for the nation:

I do believe

That we can achieve

Great things together

If we come together

Yes, you and me

We can achieve

Great things together

If we come together

This is the knife edge upon which hope resides. The ability of our multi-cultural, multi-religious, multi-class society to unite and work together for a “new tomorrow”.

What is essential in this song is that the artistes believe this is possible despite all the evidence. Remember, acedia is hatred of the place, the belief that nothing good could happen here, the spiritual sloth that does not allow possibility to shine through. In the face of acedia, the stubborn, relentless negativity, the songwriters believe there is a way forward for us as a people.

The opening to possibility is not naiveté; it is simply Christian hope in its most elemental and classic form. It is rooted in the fact that “Heaven knows where we are going” so we can dare to put our trust in God in our journey. It is also rooted in the fact that we are moving from darkness to light.

So, every small consolation must be read as the good spirit encouraging the movement and gracing the perspective and way forward. We hear this clearly in the following stanza that draws upon our National Anthem and motto:

If together we aspire

Then we can achieve

Together

Side by side we could stand

Equal and free

Together

The ‘IF’ is the big word in this stanza. The song suggests that we can do this. When you think of how we eat each other’s food and wear each other’s clothes and celebrate each other’s festivals, we too must conclude: “If together we aspire/ Then we can achieve/Together”.

Key Message:

T&T is moving from dark to light, so we must be careful to discern every grace and recognise the invitation to aspire together to achieve together.

Action Step:

Recognise the ways your thoughts and actions bring despair and choose to see the grace present in our nation. Choose unity over division.

Scripture Reading:

Col 1:9-14