Wake up and answer the call…

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

Over the last few weeks, we have delved into the nation’s soul. Remember my thesis: Carnival is to the nation what a dream is to a person—the collective unconscious unveiled. It speaks a different language, one that is more analogical. It infers something by what it says and does not say.

In January, we concluded that we are in a national desolation. There is a hatred of the place to the extent that “T&T is not a real place” is trending on social media. Apathy toward corruption, crime and violence is another sign. Add to this the feeling that the apathy cannot be fixed.

This year, music shows a shift in consciousness. A movement towards hope, resilience, and perseverance emerges from the unconscious. This struck me forcefully when I heard the song ‘Answer the Call’ in the 3Canal concert before Carnival.

It is an anthem of hope, resilience, revolution and stubborn perseverance. All signs of authentic spirituality and consolation in classical spirituality. It is medicine for the soul of a nation that has given up and stopped believing that this is a real place.

Wake Up

The opening of the song hits you in the chest. It is a resolute call to wake up and answer:

Wake up, wake up,

Can you hear me calling you

Wake up, wake up

Answer the call

Wake up, wake

Is you that I’m talking to

Wake up, wake up

Answer the call

The verse is both a rousing from slumber and, at the same time, a consciousness of a vocation that you need to answer. It echoes the call of Samuel, asleep in the Temple, whom God called three times. Three times, he replied, “Here I am”, and ran to his master Eli to report for duty.

Then Eli understood it was the Lord, and he told Samuel if it happened again, say: “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening” (1 Sam 3:9). Then the Lord could speak to him.

Interestingly, the text says: “In those days the word of the Lord was rare” (1 Sam 3:2). Maybe it is like that with us today, a nation in a state of desolation for so long. We have to wake up, recognise it is the Lord calling and answer de call.

The opening has a second meaning. Tradition has long interpreted sleeping as a metaphor for disconnection from God, a state of forgetfulness or desolation. One text compares staying awake with the opposite: “Watch yourselves or your hearts will be coarsened by debauchery and drunkenness and the cares of life, and that day will come upon you unexpectedly” (Lk 21:34).

Sleep is where we have been, with coarsened hearts, focused on disordered sexuality, drunkenness and worldly ambition. Hear again the cry from the letter to Ephesians 5:14: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Here, staying awake, sobriety of heart, is authentic spirituality. The call to wake up is the call to our soul to remember the God who calls us in things little and big. This is where the movement from desolation to consolation, from despair to hope, begins. This is the key movement in the song.

I believe that the artiste is a channel, and the song is from the lips of God to the soul of the nation, to the soul of each of us, calling us to wake up.

Who is called?

This is a call to all the believers

all the natural-born leaders

yes, this call is for you

if you believe this place is a real place

and you believe it have tings to believe in still

then is you that I talking to

It is interesting that the addressees are described as “All believers, all natural-born leaders”. These two are crucial. They have one thing in common: they do not give in to despair, hopelessness and pessimism. They do not give in to dehumanisation, to name-calling and to belittling of others.

These two groups stay focused on God who calls, and the task at hand. They keep their eyes on the prize. Later, the song will say that this call is for all.

In each of us, there is a born leader; in each one, a believer who wants to stay the course with God, no matter how difficult it may seem. This call is for you. It is not just for specific people; it speaks to that part in each of us that will never be corrupted or spoilt. That part of us that will wake up and answer the call.

Stubborn resilience

I know you fed up with the rule and divide

and the shooting and the killing

and the hate and the crime

all the bloody corruption over time

oh lord what a critical crucial time

Now, we have come to the heart of the song. These are the things that have caused T&T to enter into desolation. We know them well and feel them in our souls as an affliction. But they also name what time we are in. A critical time. A kairos moment! Greek for the appropriate time for grace and new movements of the soul, if we can hear the call.

Now the deepest part of the song emerges. The advice to our soul:

But don’t give up; don’t give in

no, never surrender, never give in

is time to get and gayap

and pull yuh hand

for the children’s sake

and the good of the land

This is a spiritual anthem from God to the hearts of people in T&T. It connects with the ancient prophets who spoke to their communities. Their words helped people stay strong against a culture that opposes God.

In the rules of discernment, St Ignatius would say: Be stubborn with the stubborn. Stand up and oppose it with stubborn strength.

The 12th rule of discernment says: “The evil spirit is a bully. You must confront him head-on and be firm and oppose him. He will take advantage of your weaknesses and weaken you further if you do not.”

This is not a time to be meek, to be the doormat. This is a time, for the sake of the children, to stand up and never surrender, never give in. This is an echo of Galatians 6:9, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap.” This is profound spiritual advice to the soul of our people. Let us heed the call.

Dreams without action is nothing

This is a call to all of the dreamers

all of the beautiful dreamers hoping, wishing all your dreams come through

if you steady sitting down just dreaming

big big dreams but ain’t doing nothing

then how you expect your dreams to come true

Here’s another principle of spirituality: Not everyone who calls me “Lord, Lord” will enter Heaven. “Only those who do the will of my Father in Heaven will”. It is not words or dreams, but action aligned to God that is vital for salvation.

Rule #6 of the Spiritual Exercises says: “When in desolation, be active and work against it by doing more prayer, meditation, examination (of root causes), and penance.” Desolation is not a time of inaction, or passivity. It is the time to doggedly, stubbornly defy the desolation by action in alignment with the good spirit and grace.

And here 3Canal gives critical spiritual advice:

You steady jamming and you jamming and yuh can’t get through

and you feel this place have nothing for you

but don’t give up, don’t stop believing

dreamers got to keep on dreaming

answer the call

all the dreamers

Don’t mind how long you have been in desolation, how long you have felt the frustration, or how deep your belief that this is not a real place. Don’t give up; don’t give in. Answer the call.

The song’s message, “Revive! Revolution! Answer the call!”, echoes the belief that true faith challenges the status quo and calls for the transformation of society. It emphasises that spirituality is not only about personal salvation but also about engaging in the world for the common good.

Key Message:

Don’t give up no matter what has disappointed you or frustrated you about T&T. Don’t give in. Wake up and answer the call. If we all do, the country will be transformed.

Action Step:

Listen to the song and let it move you. Ask yourself: how you felt when you read this article or listened to the song? How have you gone to sleep? Do you dare wake up and answer the call?

Scripture Reading:

1 Samuel 3:1-11