“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace” – Ephesians 4:3
There is a saying, “Only gravediggers start at the top.” It’s a reminder that anything meant to endure must begin at the bottom — carefully, patiently and deliberately. When building a house, no one starts with the roof. The foundation comes first, then the walls, and only after these are secure does the roof find its rightful place. Strength grows from sequence. Order matters.
Nature reinforces this truth. The bachac leaf-cutting ant, master builder of the Caribbean’s forests, creates vast underground networks — galleries, chambers and corridors — by adding one leaf cutting at a time. No single cutting is impressive. But the accumulation, guided by continuous feedback from the evolving structure, becomes something robust and resilient. The nest grows not through leaps but through increments, each step informed by the previous one.
History, too, offers a caution. The West Indies Federation began with ten countries bound together in aspiration but without a stable, tested foundation. When one country withdrew, the structure collapsed. Remember Dr Eric Williams’ refrain “One from ten leaves zero.”
Perhaps a smaller, stronger beginning — two partners first, then a third, then a fourth — would have allowed unity to grow organically, proving itself at each stage.
This is the essence of the Sequential Evolutionary Approach (SEA) which we have adopted at Marketplace Excellence: every next step — its direction and size — should be shaped by the intelligence gained from the step immediately before it. Systems thrive when they evolve, not when they are forced.
If unity is strength, and we aspire to Caribbean unity, then these lessons converge into a single insight: start small, build steadily, and grow through shared experience.
True integration must be layered like a house’s foundation, expanded like an ant colony, and strengthened through gradual, trust-building steps. Caribbean unity will not come from leaping to the top, but from climbing together, one secure step at a time.
basilgf@marketplaceexcellence.com
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