大象传媒

Good morning.

On this day in 1494 Christopher Columbus landed on Jamaica at what has subsequently become known as Discovery Bay, although there are those who argue he arrived a couple of days earlier!.

Columbus had apparently heard of the existence of the Island from Cubans who called it 鈥渢he land of blessed gold鈥�.

Today Discovery bay has no Gold but does have a huge shipping terminal for the Aluminium ore Bauxite which is mined nearby.

I know this because I discovered the place myself about 500 years after Columbus. I was staying with a friend who was the minister of the local parish in the United Church of Jamaica.

I also discovered my family were the only white people on the public beach most days.

I had been told that other UK tourists opt for the all-inclusive resorts with private beaches. I also discovered this wasn鈥檛 strictly true.

I got chatting to the family beside me on the beach who were from Birmingham and staying with relations in the town nearby.

Discovering Jamaica with friends who were local was a great experience made possible because of the kindness and welcome of people who live there.

I learned that sometimes things and people are not how you鈥檝e been told or how you might expect for personal encounter changes preconceptions.

My visit to Jamaica was something of a personal voyage of discovery into myself- into my own attitudes and assumptions.

Psalm 139 states that God actually knows us better than we know ourselves.,

Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;

thou discernest my thoughts from afar.

Lord, give us the grace and the insight to begin to see ourselves as you see us. Amen.