Want to leave a profound legacy for your family? Discover the key elements of building a rich family legacy as I explore the biblical, social, and cultural aspects of this legacy. Drawing inspiration from the story of Paul and Timothy in 1 Timothy, together we uncover the importance of belonging, heritage, purpose, reputation, and recognizing our unique creation by God.
In this thought-provoking conversation, we discuss the impact of seeking personal growth, the power of mentorship, and the beauty of seeing our children and others achieve more than we ever could. Plus, we emphasize the importance of cultivating a culture of celebration and support, empowering future generations to excel.
But what about the relationships between seniors, youth, and the intergenerational aspects of legacy building? I try to help us understand the benefits of these connections, and how they create a solid foundation for young people to find their purpose and place in the world. Learn about encouraging our youth to strive for purity, faithfulness, and love, and how to bridge the generational gap for a positive impact. Let's build a legacy that will resonate with generations to come.
#legacy #family
#abovethenoise24
# faith
#reconciliation
#race
racialreconciliation
Stay in touch:
Podcast art by Mario Christie.
Want to leave a profound legacy for your family? Discover the key elements of building a rich family legacy as I explore the biblical, social, and cultural aspects of this legacy. Drawing inspiration from the story of Paul and Timothy in 1 Timothy, together we uncover the importance of belonging, heritage, purpose, reputation, and recognizing our unique creation by God.
In this thought-provoking conversation, we discuss the impact of seeking personal growth, the power of mentorship, and the beauty of seeing our children and others achieve more than we ever could. Plus, we emphasize the importance of cultivating a culture of celebration and support, empowering future generations to excel.
But what about the relationships between seniors, youth, and the intergenerational aspects of legacy building? I try to help us understand the benefits of these connections, and how they create a solid foundation for young people to find their purpose and place in the world. Learn about encouraging our youth to strive for purity, faithfulness, and love, and how to bridge the generational gap for a positive impact. Let's build a legacy that will resonate with generations to come.
#legacy #family
#abovethenoise24
# faith
#reconciliation
#race
racialreconciliation
Stay in touch:
Podcast art by Mario Christie.
Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the intersection of faith, race and reconciliation, and I'm your host, Grantley Martelly. This episode of Above the Noise centers around the topic of building a family legacy. It is an audio file of a recording from a television broadcast that was broadcast on the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation television in Barbados in November of 2022, when I was invited to be a guest on the program called Family Forum, hosted by the Church of Nazarene. The host of the program are Reverend Martell Farley and Reverend Anderson Kelman. We're each building a legacy, whether we're doing it intentionally or simply by living our lives. They're parts of our legacy that we have control over, and the other parts of our legacy that come about because of just where we live, who we are, the things that we're doing. Join us as we explore the biblical, social and cultural aspects of leaving a rich legacy, and I hope that you enjoy the program as much as I enjoyed having a conversation with Reverend Farley and with Reverend Kelman. Good to be here, good to be back in Barbados, good to be back home, like we say, on the rock and seeing friends and family. I'm actually here for this visit. We had our family reunion, the seventh family reunion that we've had. We have one every three years somewhere in the world And this one we decided to come back to Barbados, where it started in 2001. We get together to honor and remember those who have gone before, specifically our mothers, and some of you may know her Sister, madeline Leon, who was a member of Hallsville Church of the Nazarene for over 50 years. So today we're going to talk about legacy. So we honored her legacy And we encourage our young people and our brothers and sisters to remember that we have a legacy, and I want to talk to you today about that.
Grantley Martelly:There's a number of different places that the Bible talks about legacy, including Deuteronomy, where Farley read from. But I want to talk to you from 1 Timothy, chapter one, where Paul is talking to Timothy about legacy. We don't always read it that way because sometimes the ministers you know they teach us theology. Timothy was a pastor. Paul was teaching him how to be a pastor, but if you look at it, he's also talking about his legacy, right? Because of these five points that I notice here, the first one is that he has a place to belong. We all need a place to belong. So Paul is telling him you belong here in 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy. He called him a son. You're my son, you're a fellow worker, you're a companion, which means you have a place to belong And legacy is always tied to a place and to people, where you're from. What are you trying to remember? How were you brought up? The things that you were brought up to be, but also your present there. How do you connect? You connect in the family. Paul called him his son. You know that Paul used Timothy in many ways as a son And a fellow worker. He even called him by one time a bond servant. Right, bond servant means now you no longer carry in letters back and forth, but you're now on the road and you're getting the beatings and you're getting the criticism like everybody else, but even in all of that you belong here. If you ever need a place to be, you know you have me and you have the other brothers and sisters in the fellowship.
Grantley Martelly:The second thing that we see about Timothy that Paul says is you have a heritage, a godly heritage. He refers him back to his mother and his grandmother. He says remember your grandmother, your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice. And he said remember their strong faith. So that means they were active, they were strong, they taught him well, they imparted to him. Their faith was active. And now he says you have that heritage and he'll go on to say in the next point that I see it in you, right. So he reminded him that, first of all, you have a place to belong. Secondly, you have a place to look forward to. You have that heritage to look back to, that grandmother, that mother who taught you. We know that in the Jewish tradition, the father was supposed to teach the children the Torah, but we also know that the mother spent more time with the children. So the father may come in and teach the Torah in the afternoon at the dinner table, but during the day the mother and the grandmother is actually teaching the children how to put that into practice, right? So he learned a lot from his mother and grandmother, as well as from his dad. The third point we see is that you have a purpose in life. You set the fan into flame, that which was placed in you, right? You have a purpose. We see it in you now. We encourage you to do it Now.
Grantley Martelly:How did Paul and the team help him to do that? First of all, we know that Timothy was used to run messages back and forth between the different churches. He probably carried Paul's bag, or he probably, you know he was along. You know, if every were little kids and we wanted to follow the big people along, they'll give you like a purse or a bag or said bring this. You know, you want to help around the house. And even though the Bible doesn't say all these in detail, we know in history, if you go back and look at the history of that time, that the Bible does talk about this, that the older people are supposed to mentor the younger people and bring them along. Right, and it was an oral society, so things were communicated orally and by doing, you know, jesus learned to be a carpenter, a builder, a contractor from his father. Right, father, probably the first one to put a hammer in his hand. And that's probably what happened to Timothy when he's saying fan into flame that which has been called, but laying on of hands. The laying on of hands didn't put the gift in Timothy, the laying on of hands just helped to pull it out further, right? So now the you know, they say there's smoke, there's fire. So they're saying we want, you know, it's time for you to stop just smoking or those things. We want to see some fire coming out of you.
Grantley Martelly:Because the fourth point is because you have a purpose in life and you have a reputation to protect. God has called you to do something. He's put you in a place We're going to help you get there. But now you're old enough that you need to start acting on that. You need to start maturing that. You need to start getting out there and doing what you're supposed to do so that we can help guide you and continue to bless you and to support you. Right, protect what you have learned. And he said entrust it to trustworthy people. And that is a good part of a legacy there. His grandmother entrusted it to his mother, who entrusted it to him. And now Paul is saying entrust it to Godly man who can help you do the work. So you see, this legacy is building.
Grantley Martelly:And then the fifth thing is that we are all created uniquely. Psalm 139, verse 14 and 17,. It's according to 16 says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. So God has created each person for a unique purpose And there is some things in life that nobody else can accomplish besides you. So we have some overlapping things. You may be in ministry together, we may know people together, but there's certain things that only I can do, only certain things that you can do, only certain things, because that sphere of influence is you, right. So God uniquely made us to do that and to be there. And Paul was reminding him Timothy, you are the one we are placing here, right. And if you go on further, you see Timothy is in this church and he's saying you need to deal with the false teachings, you need not to be intimidated. In verse 14, it tells him be bold in what you do, don't let people put you down, because that flame in you is put there by God And even though you may be the youngest in many rooms, that doesn't mean that you're not called to do it.
Grantley Martelly:So the final thing about legacy is, whether we realize it or not, whether we accept it or not, or whether we're intentional about it or not, we're each building a legacy every day, a legacy of the summation of all the parts of our life the good, the bad and the ugly that is left behind that people remember us for. And the thing that people remember us for they'll remember if you leave some money, they'll remember if you leave a house or a car. All those things are going to fade away. But long after those things have faded away, they're going to remember who we were, the person we were, how we treated people, how we love people, whether we were kind or whether we were gentle, whether you were a person that people could come to for help, or whether they know that you're going to be the person that's spreading all the things to everybody.
Grantley Martelly:You hear this and you hear that right, and one of the things that I would like for my life is when I am dead. I've heard some people pass to me and I heard some people say good riddance, and that comment is a comment of legacy. That means that that person had such a legacy that people were glad that they were no longer there, and I don't want my life to be that. I want, when I die, that people remember, not necessarily miss me and put up walls and plaques to me, but that my life mattered in somebody else's life to help them to become a better person.
Anderson Kellman:Mm-hmm Well that's, that's, that's powerful. Yes, what I'm teaching there, but practical teaching, though, because one of the things I was saying is that, whether or not you realize it, you know legacy, yeah Right, and that's for good or for bad, mm-hmm.
Grantley Martelly:Right.
Anderson Kellman:They want what was said, though by a bit more telling, in terms of the whole issue of a trusting legacy to faithful men, Mm-hmm. You want to talk about it a little more though, because I am thinking that you know it sounds intentional. It sounds as though, as an individual, we have to be almost creative about legacy Mm-hmm And ensure that There's not a left to chance. There's a left to chance.
Grantley Martelly:Right, yeah, yeah. So that's a really interesting point. Right, because part of this is there's certain things about our legacy and our life that we control. That's right. And there's certain things that we don't control. That's good. And many times we spend a lot of time on the things we don't control, trying to change, unfortunately, unfortunately.
Grantley Martelly:But if you, what? if we focus intentionally on the things that we do control, yeah, how you control again, how you treat people, how we appear, how we respond, do we respond or do we react? You know, and the other thing about legacy is that we are not perfect, so legacy doesn't mean that everything about you is perfect. We're going to have our good times on a bad time, good days and bad days, and coming to realize that, as believers, as men and women, that sometimes our bad days, how we respond to those, say more about us than how we do our good days. So the intentionality then you know to pass it on is what can I control? What are the things that I can do? Can I impart something to somebody else? Can I help somebody else succeed better than me? That's one of the things we talk about at our final reunion. You know, sometimes it's not always about me. Sometimes I am put in the place to help you. Not just come alongside me, but help propel you ahead of me.
Martel Farley:Because really it's almost like a network, yeah, like the whole team has a function.
Anderson Kellman:Now.
Martel Farley:You said just now each person is unique, so if each person get to understand their role and their function, then it makes a legacy richer.
Grantley Martelly:Makes a legacy richer. that's right, We're going to come back and eliminate it.
Martel Farley:It's a topic that we find very interesting, as you have shown us quickly. Right in the world, we have the information of legacy.
Anderson Kellman:One of the things that really impacted on me is the whole personal growth, and personal growth is not just for the individual alone, it's for the individual group The people around us. Yes, Because we are a part of the system And we are part of that system And therefore, when we grow and change and become the best version of ourselves, then we are part of the system in a more positive way And so our personal growth has significant impact on those wellness and the stability.
Grantley Martelly:It does. When we grow and we become better. We surround ourselves with people who help us become better. Part of our personal growth is realizing that there have been other people who poured into our lives to make us who we are, to make us better. So he's saying to now pay that forward and trust it to trustworthy people And that trustworthy I mean we can do a whole section on that Because to find a trustworthy person you've got to begin to know their character. You've got to begin to know who they are. That's why Parker wrote all these things about Timothy. They spent so much time together that he was talking about character. He was a person of integrity.
Grantley Martelly:So how do you help? How do you find those people and then entrust it into them? What I've learned in my life is that sometimes you find those people because they find themselves, They come and they're attached to you, They show you the self. Sometimes some of the people we think are going to be the greatest at something or not, And the one we think are going to be the least or the one who really catch on to it, And that's the one we end up pouring ourselves into right. But the other thing I was focusing on before the break. Was that coming to the point in life where we are comfortable and at peace to watching somebody we help go farther than we were? Whoa, Yeah Right.
Martel Farley:This means that we have to have perception And it cannot be a competition Right, and the whole idea of wanting the person to be propelled for that you are means that you can't have that sense of competition Right. I'm not actually talking about healthy competition. Healthy competition I suppose there's room for that as well, right?
Grantley Martelly:But the whole idea of jealousy, yeah, which is what Timothy Paul was talking about. Timothy, right, he's trying to propel him ahead of him.
Martel Farley:Yes, but I'm talking about jealousy.
Grantley Martelly:Yeah, yeah, jealousy is the negative part.
Martel Farley:It can undermine the legacy. If you want to say that.
Anderson Kellman:Yeah, but I also see we have to have a real perspective as well. Yeah, We're going where you want to get, because in our Western construct we're very individualistic, right, right, and so we think about ourselves, or beginning or end what we accomplish. But I think what we're sharing this afternoon is we'll see things more in terms of a more family, a more opposite kind of family, a family context Yeah, not just me.
Anderson Kellman:Right, the we, every generation. We should get better, we should become stronger. Yeah, we should be more influential. We should connect better people generally. So it's a more, it's a much broader perspective, a broader perspective.
Grantley Martelly:Yeah, now we need to become comfortable with it, right? Especially as believers, we should become comfortable with seeing other people propel in our faith, propel in their faith stronger and maybe even learn from them, maybe that person that you led to Christ, maybe a person who can help you through a struggle, because God is gift to them with something that we don't have. But that's not easy, right, it's not easy to see people move ahead of us. It's not always easy, because we need to be taught to work hard And we will always be ahead, especially if you're older. But think about the beauty of we were talking before this. You've seen your children go farther than you even went. I find joy in that to see my children doing things that I only imagined, and some of them that I couldn't even imagine. Right, and see them doing that And I'm like, wow, they're so far ahead of me.
Martel Farley:Yeah, it means also that one of the things that we have to do more of is to be celebrate. Celebrate, yeah, celebrate what happens in a family, it doesn't matter who it's from, all the way it may be. A child comes from a university, you celebrate it. You get a new job, you celebrate And, of course, so that becomes a culture of celebration. If something happens, you advertise And, because it's not only the good things that you zero in on, the things that are made may happen that are negative. Right, you want to even place and see well, how can it help to make things better?
Grantley Martelly:You walk beside what we say, those lower times, right, knowing that within them, like Paul said, there's a flim, there's a, there's a spark in there That's going to burst into a flim And maybe this trial is the flame, is this Catalyst that's going to cause that thing to burst into a flame and that person's going to come out of that much stronger than they went in. But we also be walked with them. We don't just send them on Yeah, got your back and leave them. We walk with them through it. So if they need a hand for a little bit of time, we put them along, yeah. But then you get to the point where you fling of my head. I say, alright, you just come through that, keep going, buddy.
Martel Farley:It makes a journey more practical, real, you know.
Anderson Kellman:I want to, to be an advocate, not a devs advocate, it's an advocate. And I will ask the question, though Is there, is there Something that has to be broken? You know, in our, in our generations, to first think that they're thinking? It's what I mean with that.
Anderson Kellman:I find that that often times that they, they seem like in fighting in families, i see a generation as well. It seems as though, you know, persons don't talk to each other. The ambience of one another, and it's a general sense of poor, don't tear down. And as one thing, though, if maybe It's a spirit dimension in this whole idea of legacy that has to be corrected, broken So that we as So, yes, families can. Yeah, i'm getting the process that you talked about, because I am seeing, i'm seeing a wonderful benefits I'm seeing, i'm seeing things like, like, families give us gosh the families, you know. I'm seeing families educating families, you know. But it's not just about me. You know, i met one family I mean, i'm a customer that I see well, you know, and she's a chance to become a new surgeon, you know, and as a family, as a, you know, our parents can do that, but collectively could be help.
Martel Farley:So what about? what about? I mean without seeing context What about families sharing finances?
Grantley Martelly:Yeah, yeah, that's part of the. I think one needs to be broken I mean, if you want to talk spiritually, deeply, spiritual theological right that spirit of Selfishness, right about possible selfishness, and needs to be broken by the Holy Spirit to realize that There is enough in the world to go around for all of us. The fact that you succeed, or that your, your cousin, becoming your surgeon, doesn't mean that you're less, yeah, doesn't mean that what you're doing doesn't matter as much. Right, so can you? can you let go of that and not be so competitive, realizing that When one person in our family succeed, the whole family succeed?
Martel Farley:It also means we have to value The different gift in different gift in here, here in the, in our context, there are Caribbean culture. We put a lot of emphasis on the academics. Yeah, that's right I might have somebody in a family who's a wonderful artisan. Should he see himself as important as My other brother who was a professor? right, sometimes we have, we all the ones Have to really lead the deterrence, because sometimes you celebrate the professor, we don't celebrate the artisan, you see, and yes, that's.
Grantley Martelly:That's the thing that we also talked about too Is, you know, we just had the first person in our family get their PhD and she's not clinical psychologist, right, but you know the fact that the matter is, if you look around us, the Mechanic is just as important as a clinical psychologist. The plumber, yeah, right. The person who sells your groceries, the person who cleans your house. I remember telling some people at work one day I used to I have to have a talking to everybody, no matter where they are. I say hi to the janitor, all the way up to the CEO, and one of my friends pulled me together, says Why do you call the start to the janitor when you come in? You know She's a human being and she has grant keys for the team. And I said to him you know, if she don't do her work, every one of us in here We're going home. Are we going to the hospital? right? Yeah, so you cannot Devalue her just because she's not a manager or she doesn't have a degree. She's a human being, yeah.
Grantley Martelly:But the other thing that needs to be broken is this competition, and I find a lot of things that Sometimes in family we have these expectations right. Mommy is going to die that and I'm going to inherit this, i'm going to inherit that and they're gonna give me this and they're gonna give me that. So we looking forward to getting all this stuff physical focus, physical focus and then you're gonna get in my way, because now I got a split that with you, right? But daddy always told me I was gonna get the house. You got five brothers, but you walking around saying I'm gonna get the house, yeah, what are you other four brothers go supposed to do? right?
Martel Farley:I'm gonna edit here because you have two minutes to go. Well, you know what I think? I think you're gonna have to continue this in the next program. Okay, right, because it's so much we need to unpack, i guess. Give you one minute to give a final comment in this segment.
Grantley Martelly:Well, i mean, i'd say in order, the. The issue of legacy is really important. All of these things are important and the beauty of being intentional about legacy that I have learned That our family is learning is that it creates a place to talk about it. You bring it on the table and people begin to talk about it and some of those things literally come out and say what I always thought you were. I always thought this, or I always thought, mommy, you know Well, you got a college degree and everybody thought you were better than me. The fact that we intentional and we lay it out on the table sometimes brings people forward to begin to say it Right, some of the things you were talking about says let's come to service about this, because for 15 years I've been feeling this. Get a chance to share.
Martel Farley:Well, i really think we're gonna continue this in the next program, when I thank you thank you for having me here currently for sure of us And, as I said, we're gonna have a for the next program as well. I want to thank you for sharing on this important topic.
Grantley Martelly:Episode two of the family forum coming right up after the break. I want to tell you about my friend, darren Porter and his great team at performance audiocom. Performance audiocom can be your one-stop shop for professional quality electronics, a live audio recording, podcast in a live performance. I've been doing business with a team at performance audio for over 20 years And they have always specialized in the highest quality equipment at reasonable prices and they ship worldwide. So not just settled for the cheapest thing on the internet. You get what you pay for. Go to performance audiocom and see the wide variety of professional quality electronics recording equipment and live sound reinforcement. They even carry lighting and DJ and resources, all at reasonable prices. So say hi to Darren and check out performance audiocom.
Grantley Martelly:The second part of our conversation. We turn the topic towards legacy and its impact on youth. We talk about intergenerational aspects of how both seniors and youth can benefit from interactions and from learning from each other, and legacy is not always the older people passing on to the younger people, but sometimes the older people are also simultaneously learning from the younger people, as they are building a legacy together.
Martel Farley:We want to start this session, i'm sure, by highlighting the youth, youth role, and sometimes we think of your legacy and we think more of the older persons in the family. That's critical as well, but we want to start this discussion as we zero in on the youth in our family. We are there on the margin, or at the part and parcel of legacy And therefore I'm going to hand over to Robert Martelli and then we'll come back and have some dialogue.
Grantley Martelly:Thank you. It's good to be here again in this show with you. We're having a good conversation. Last time, if you remember, if you haven't seen the previous episode, we talked about Timothy and Paul, based on Second Timothy, and we talked about five points, first point being that Paul reminded Timothy that he had a place to belong, he had a place he could come to, he had people who cared about him, he had places, a person who he knew he could speak to, and many of our young people today need to know that they have a place, they can come, a place to belong. The second thing we learned that Paul reminded him was that you had a godly heritage. You had a grandmother and a mother who spoke into you and helped you to become foundational in the things that you are, that now you're about to propel into life. That foundation is going to carry you, as you have this community to support you. The third thing is that you have a purpose in life, so their job was helping them to fan into flame, and all that means is to help pull out of him the things that are in him and remind him to be bold and to be courageous, because it's in you. You just got to. Let it come out and God will guide you and lead you and we will stand behind you.
Grantley Martelly:The fourth thing we talked about was because there was a reputation to protect. So protect what you have learned, protect what has been entrusted to you and then entrust it to other people. Share what you have, pay it forward, teach other people the things you know, just like your grandmother taught you, your mother taught you and we have taught you. And then the fifth one is that you were uniquely created to be you. It may be Based on Psalm 139, verse 14 to 16. So as we look at it now, going into the youth, you take that point and you say each was created uniquely to be what you God created you to be. And there's certain things in life that will not be accomplished unless you do it. It doesn't mean that God can't do it without you, but it means that he want you to have the experience, to know what he can do through you, so uniquely created.
Grantley Martelly:So if you look at that verse in where Paul was saying to Timothy don't let anyone look down on you because you're young, but set an example in speech, conduct, love and purity Right. A lot of times we say about set an example and we put a period there, but you got to read the whole verse Set an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faithfulness and purity. And those are foundational to legacy Right. So how we speak, how we conduct ourselves, how we love people or not, are we fearful in the things that we say we're going to do, not just in our marriage relationships not all of our marriage that he was talking about here, because Timothy was still young but faithfulness in the thing you said you're going to do. Can people trust your word? Are you going to show up when you're supposed to show up? Are you going to do the best you can do? Not do it perfectly. And then purity right. Try to abstain from things that are going to pull you down and cause you to be unhealthy or negative. And God doesn't want us to be pure because he wants to steal our joy. God wants us to strive for purity because he know it benefits us.
Grantley Martelly:And many of your older parents and grandparents will tell you about things they did in their youth that they wish they could go back and undo, because they're living the consequences to their right. At that time they thought their parents were holding them back, but now they got to deal with whatever it is you know. So a few points I want us to look at here. The reality of today is the reality of today. This is where we live. It's okay to look back and say yesterday, and it's okay to look back We would like it like it was before, but the fact is those things help propel us, but we can't go back to yesterday. So what can we do today that is relevant for today to propel us forward?
Grantley Martelly:We talk about the young people. Do not look down upon them because they're young. If we think about that verse, he was talking about people in church as well as people in community. I don't believe that sometimes when people look down on us is because they're intentional in doing us harm. They may just not understand where you're going, the things that you're talking about, the dream that you have.
Grantley Martelly:You look around us today and there's so much technology And some of the things that young people are talking about you know even we that are just one generation behind them don't understand. So you think about the grandparents and other people. It's like we don't have a clue what you're talking about. Our children are exposed to so much information to me. I don't know if this is scientifically proven or not, but it seems to me that our children are exposed to there in one day, more information than most of us were exposed to in our entire life growing up. Now, whether they use it or not is another thing, but they have it in the internet, they have it in Instagram, they have it in all of these things. Youtube you ever been on YouTube and just do a search for a word and see how much videos come up. That's true.
Grantley Martelly:You want to learn how to fix a window. You don't even have to go to library anymore. Just go on YouTube and you have a window to do it. Some of our grandparents don't even understand what YouTube is, so I don't think they're looking down on us in a negative way, it's just I don't understand what you're talking about. I don't understand how this even pertains to me. So I want to engage with technology and be willing to learn from young people about things that are happening. Partner with them in a way that you can learn, if you don't know how to use your cell phone, as your grandchild, and they'll be happy to teach you how to use it. But don't put down the cell phone because we don't have another phone like it used to be, and you guys are always on your cell phone and all that kind of stuff. The second thing is try to create a judgment-free environment, a place where young people can come and have open discussion, ask questions, learn something.
Grantley Martelly:We were growing up. There were a lot of things that were not our purport to even talk about. Today, our young people want to talk about them. They want to talk about everything because they're running into it. In our day we had to go to the library to find out certain things In our day. These young people just type it in and it's like oh, what does that mean, mom? Oh, okay, let me go and do some research And also don't be afraid to say, hey, I don't know. I need to go and learn about what you're talking about.
Grantley Martelly:And then the other thing I want to talk about is better understand the community in which we live in. It's different, it's different, it's not different, it's not bad or good, it's just different. Things happen differently, things think differently. The kids are being taught differently. They're being in school, they want to dress differently, they want to listen to different music. But I believe that at the heart of it, young people still want to be part of a family, still want to be part of a core group, they still want to feel wanted, they want to have their questions answered and they want us to be authentic with them.
Grantley Martelly:The other thing I would say is open up your home as a place where young people can hang out, because what happens in a home I don't know if you noticed this in a church is when you invite people into your home, there is an additional level of relaxation, an additional level of sharing, an additional level of community. That happens. That's why, in the Bible, whenever there was a covenant or there was a treaty or something to be taken, the people gathered in a circle in a home or in a place. They shared a meal, they washed hands together, washed feet together, but it was always within that context of a community of where it is.
Grantley Martelly:They didn't go and sit down in a conference room and just sign it and leave. You had to have tea first, you had to have dinner first, you had to talk about everything first, and they sort of created that place where people can ask questions. The Bible talks about in Psalm 1-3, being planted by a river of water that brings forth fruit in the season, and the only way we can bring forth fruit is if we are planted. We understand the soil we are in, we understand the nurture of the soil how are we going to grow and that there is a season for that fruit, and it may not be the season that we think it is, but the season may be that God wants it to be.
Grantley Martelly:So one of the things we talked about earlier we were getting into is the community and this attention in a family that could arise because people are on the same page, and I think that we see this here in Timothy that Paul was saying everybody is not always on the same page, timothy. So part of your job, this young man coming into this place where some of the people are old enough to be your grandmother or your mother they probably knew them. Your job is to help get them on the same page, at least to the point that they can move that church, that community forward in understanding. It doesn't mean that everybody has to agree, but you create a level of understanding that we can move forward together, talk together, even have arguments together. That's not always bad.
Grantley Martelly:Sometimes you need to have an argument because somebody has something to say. Let them say what they have to say and then go from there. Because if we tell them they can't say, you don't know what happens Resentment, pain, the anger. They come into the room now they leave it a separate anger. You wouldn't talk to me, you wouldn't let me say whatever. And the opportunity we had to solve a problem now becomes worse Because the next time they come they come with more anger.
Anderson Kellman:And they will say anyway.
Grantley Martelly:If they don't say to you, they're going to say to somebody. That's what Paul was telling Timberty create that place, because they had dissension, they had disunity, they had false doctrine, he's saying. create a space for them to become and dialogue.
Martel Farley:I believe you were listening intently as you were, and the information shared is so relevant when it comes to legacy in the family And you see, the importance of the youth blending with the older one. that's what it word. that's what I hope you learn. you know, it is not a case where we are supposed to be segregated or segmented. part and parcel of the family And this is replicated in the church. The concepts here that we talk about, that should be in the home, replicated in the church as well, because you have church family, you have the blood family, church family. Some of the commonalities are very, very real.
Anderson Kellman:Well, welcome back to you, And we're having quite an interesting discussion and I listened very well to my family and I was thinking about the generation gap, you know, and basically what he has said. It will see me as though that is a wrong making If those kind of risks are there, where we allow for open dialogue, where we have a size that's about all the folk we may not be fully aware of all the things that we do now. He mentioned internet. Has been one of those elements. You know, the cell phone that is so removed from the rotary phone of many years ago. Right, there has to be a sense of understanding that we don't all speak the same language, you know, and to create the opportunity, the environment where persons can feel and share their thoughts, share their concerns and also learn from each other as well, so that we can maintain useful dialogue.
Anderson Kellman:And in that case then that issue of generation gap will obviously become, obviously shrink in a sense. And of course, that also has lots of other components attached to the early, the belief systems. Right, you know and we began to talk a little bit earlier the whole issue of our parents telling us things like, you know, stay from our culture. You know I want the whole, not the fort for you, you know, obviously has no back door, and so it became a river from the sea. Now it is the tremendous economic power that I would say on the water. So I think that we need to really begin to look at how we can engage, change that kind of thinking That sort of thing, because legacy can be shaped.
Grantley Martelly:Yes, yes, yes, legacy can definitely be shaped.
Martel Farley:Yes, Well, so take on that I'm finding. Yeah, i mean so think go ahead, yeah, the whole idea of occupation. we focused on the historical context.
Grantley Martelly:Yeah, so the whole idea of occupation. So when I was growing up, you know I had and I can't necessarily attribute this to my mother, whoever I'm a product society, but my idea was you had to be a doctor, a lawyer or a politician, because those are the only three people I saw who seemed to have money, who seemed to have anything else? right, that was my context. My mother was very out of the country.
Martel Farley:No, i'd teach her a policeman Well.
Grantley Martelly:I could have been a teacher because I was actually recruited to be a teacher before I left Barbados It's not glamorous And I was recruited to be in the Defense Force actually, and if you think about it, at that time there was a lot of opportunity in the Defense Force, right, but they were still building the Defense Force when we got out of high school, right, but I never thought about agriculture and that kind of stuff, you know. But if you think about it, when our grandparents and parents said, you know, i don't want to see a horn in your hand and that kind of stuff, they were thinking about it from the context of slavery and poor slavery and being on sharecroppers and working the land and physically there. I don't think they were thinking of it in terms, first, you could actually own the land. There you go. I just worked the land. There you go, but you could own the land. That's the first thing. Second thing how do you do it differently?
Grantley Martelly:I don't think they even perceived the fact that today there are farmers out there who own land and who have computers that decide when to turn on the water and when to shut off the water, when to harvest and when not to harvest, right? I've seen things where growers now have these heat maps and, instead of just watering the whole field, it only shows them where the water is below a certain amount, and that's what comes on When they come to harvest it. The field is mapped out right And the harvesters out there and it's empty and the farmers got an iPad watching the tractor go and harvest. You know tons. In one day. They can do more work than all of those plantation workers did in a week. That's a completely different view of agriculture than our grandparents had, and our great grandparents had right.
Grantley Martelly:So they were telling us within the context of what they understood, and that's why today it's so important, as we build generational and this multi-generational is to understand that sometimes, when the young people are talking about something, they're talking about it in a vision that is sometimes beyond. So give them a hearing What you can have. Give them a hearing. Trust them. You know, when they say I want to start my own business. For us and for our grandparents and stuff, starting your own business was just this really tough thing. But now I tell young people all the time you can be anything you want to be. And here's the thing in this 21st century, if it doesn't exist, you can create it. It's true. Did you ever get taught that you can create your own world.
Anderson Kellman:No, that was not part of our system. We were in some ways we were in the community to believe that we have to basically work with what is there? Right, You know, we leave school and you find a job. That is there, Yes, You know. So the whole idea now of being an entrepreneur, you know we're not entirely new because we know that there were other.
Grantley Martelly:There were entrepreneurs you know Sal and the Marrake harvesting there were entrepreneurs Who pay the way.
Martel Farley:We didn't call them that. Yeah right, the Hawker, yeah, the Hawker. That seemed to have been a stage. The big farmer, yeah.
Anderson Kellman:That seemed to be a big happy-ness stage that was there to fuel those who wanted to become doctors and lawyers, and stuff right Because the Hawker and the big farmer had a perception because their children became a doctor.
Martel Farley:Right.
Anderson Kellman:The reason for those black businesses, it's true, i mean the thought was that our children should become professionals, professional. And once they became professionals. They left to find a business. Yeah right.
Martel Farley:And that is kind of difficult, because to me we have any bad business. There are some bad businesses, but once the owner has done the business, they do business as well.
Grantley Martelly:Yeah, see, because they didn't build that legacy.
Martel Farley:This is important, right, see, you put your big kid in the legacy.
Grantley Martelly:But then when you look at other communities.
Martel Farley:The other community is not the same thing.
Grantley Martelly:They teach those children to carry on, to carry on, to carry on. They teach them to be entrepreneur, they teach them to be farmer. They teach them to own the land You talk about by the sea. We didn't think about going by the sea and there's too much salt and the thing your house wrought out and all that kind of stuff. And now you look at the properties close to the coast Very expensive, very expensive, right, odo Barit, yeah, and those people are asking about how much is it gonna cost to replace my roof every 10 years? because it's gonna wrought out, right, because they've been taught you can make enough that when it comes to replace your roof you just do it.
Grantley Martelly:So that's not an obstacle. The obstacle is the opportunity. The obstacle is the opportunity. Sure, the sea ain't got no back door, but most tourists who come in here not even going far enough that the back door even matters, The back door even matters, but you know what I'm talking about.
Anderson Kellman:I think, though, that this whole idea of legacy, though, has such significant implications I mean not just in terms of interest to come, but I think even now we've all been able to talk about and address these issues are critical And shaping what is to come, because I think that there's some things that have come down to us that are no longer relevant, i mean back when they were said to us all, when they were in our constructable minds. It made sense because that's where they were, and so I think what has happened is that we have accepted things a lot stuck in barrel, without this kind of analysis, and I think that we've heard of our own journey is to come to these points of analysis and see what makes sense, what does it, and hopefully, we make some corrections. And, for example, what your business? I think the point that Reverend Macha made.
Anderson Kellman:It's so poignant that business can be just as a generational thing. If we want generation, as we say, across the generations in, how can we build on our fathers be, how can we build on our mothers' business? how can we, you know, how can we not, you know, come along and build on? our father left, our father left, you know. So it becomes more of a broader scope. Yeah, i just think it's an unnarrow, unnarrow perspective.
Martel Farley:Well, the time has disappeared already. It's have two minutes to go, but it's a discussion. You know, viewers, we obviously, our sessions are discussion starters. So perhaps you can start a discussion in your church, in your family, the whole idea of legacy, and that's what we sought to do here. Get new thinking so that perhaps you can have yourself turn into a sit-down as family and bring your different members together and tell us some jokes and have some food, and I mean even that food in turn, the one you use, not what you used to use then. So it's really, really important, and it has personal component to it as well. All right, reverend Martelly, just find out where's the minute also, and then you'll have our closing pre.
Grantley Martelly:So I give you one quick example and then one verse. My mother-in-law for a long time had a flip phone. She didn't want to upgrade. But then she started having great-grandchildren And she wanted to see them. She saw her sister had an iPad, talking to her grandchildren because her daughter worked for Disney. She was like what is this? Three months later my mother-in-law was using the iPad because her motivation was I want to see my grandchildren great-grandchildren.
Grantley Martelly:No more flip phone, right. So she learned, she made two-generational leaps because she wanted to see that She's indeed indeed. And Psalm 13 says bless is the man who's planted by the water, rivers of water that bring forth fruit in its season. I want to encourage you to think about that differently To be planted by rivers of water, understand the water, understand the value of water, understand the value of land, what seed needs to be planted, when, so that you can bring forth fruit in its season. And sometimes, when we plant, we also got to realize we don't know everything. A good farmer will tell you they're always learning. That's right, right. So how can we teach that agricultural mentality, that farming mentality, whether you choose to be a farmer, choose to be a preacher, a teacher, a businessman, understand that you got to be planted by water and you got to understand land and culture and soil and sun and moon new moon, half moon, full moon so you can bring forth fruit in the season.
Martel Farley:Yes, Beautiful thought to end the whole discussion with legacy And Reverend. I tell you thanks so much.
Grantley Martelly:Thank you for having me. We enjoyed the discussion tremendously.
Martel Farley:May God bless you and your ministry.
Grantley Martelly:So if we are to leave a rich family legacy, it has to be built, it has to be some intentionality involved. It has to include interactions, understanding, modeling, creating safe places and, most of all, enjoying life together. The material things that we accumulate are simply a bonus of our legacy. Your legacy is substantially in your hands.
Grantley Martelly:Remember to subscribe and leave us a rating. Ratings are very important to helping our podcast succeed in the podcast universe and helping it become known to other people. Email us your comments at abovethenoise24 at gmailcom, And follow us on Instagram and Facebook at abovethenoise24. Thank you for listening. Please share this episode with your friends.