THIS CHRISTMAS

Dec 25, 2010 AFC Column, Features / Columnists

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By Raphael Trotman
AFC Leader

The Alliance For Change wishes every Guyanese, and every visitor to our dear land, a Merry Christmas in this special yuletide season.
As I type this, Mark Benschop and Freddie Kissoon, have been released on $1 bail by a City Magistrate after rightfully protesting against the despicable state of the Le Repentir Cemetery; sugar workers are facing a bleak future; bauxite workers remain ignored, and our women and children are more vulnerable to predators and abusers, but in the midst of it all, Guyana is still a beautiful place; a place worth living in, and fighting for.
Despite the shortcomings, disappointments, and horrors of 2010, we Guyanese continue to dig deeper into reserves of strength and optimism we never knew we had; expecting that 2011 will finally be the year of deliverance.
We continue to delight in our cooking and shopping, welcoming of relatives from abroad, visiting with friends and family, and “putting away” of our homes.
Even as we try to numb the pain and forget the intolerable conditions that every one of us live under, the reality of what our beloved country has become is inescapable.
As easy as it is to forget the pain and the suffering and the drudgery of life, it is perhaps even easier for many to forget why there is a season known as Christmas, and why we have gone from truly commemorating Christ’s birth, to celebrating and literally re-writing the true meaning of what that birth, and Christmas symbolises.
The Bible says that Jesus Christ was born sometime in this month, in a manger in Bethlehem. He was God’s chosen son who was sent to offer eternal redemption to mankind; at least, to all those who are prepared to believe in him.
His message of peace, forgiveness and love, is a message that resonates with everyone, and is consistently found in each of the world’s major religions. It is the message that the AFC wishes to reinforce in this Christmas of the year of our Lord, 2010.
Roshan Khan, in a letter penned to the press recently, captured the extreme to which Christmas has been taken, and rightly, calls for the re-alignment to take place. “In my opinion”, he said, “…the success of the Main Big Lime is a scourge, a disgrace to the government and an example of vulgar, immoral decadence. Criminality rises because the criminals want money for these same fêtes.
The Minister should host solid quality shows that encourage morality and maturity.
Let the singers sing patriotic songs, and songs that encourage a good family life, excellent behaviour and positive trends. We should say no to the lawless dancehall and chutney nastiness that has infected our population like wildfire.”
The above description of modern Guyanese Christmas celebration is most definitely not what Christmas should mean to us Guyanese; a people who pride themselves as being very religious and protective of everyone’s religious rights and beliefs.
In my humble opinion, to blame the government alone, without doing some self-examination as to our own individual contributions to this lawlessness and disrespect, would be foolish.
Our descent began many years ago when someone, somewhere, who had a chance to say “no”, and to stop something evil and wrong from happening, did nothing. Today, we are where we are, but don’t have to stay as we are.
We cannot, as a people, continue hating, hurting and destroying each other in the name of politics, business, or even entertainment because that is the way it has always been or because our foreparents and forbears did the same.
It is time that Guyanese believe that a better day, and a better way, is possible, and most importantly, that it is within our grasp.
Things are the way they are because we have all contributed to the decline and destruction by not simply refusing to participate, and saying “no” when we have an opportunity to do so in the face of manifest injustice and disrespect of man by man.
Instead, we have allowed successive governments and individuals to plunder the wealth of the nation, disrespect our individual and collective rights, lie to us, and then presumptuously ask us for support.
Likewise, we have tolerated business entities to reap huge profits at our expense and sat back and seen them re-invest little or nothing in socially uplifting programmes. Few of the major companies have a good track-record of giving back, but yet we allow the abuse to continue. The few who, this Christmas, gave back, must be commended.
So the AFC says “use this Christmas to prepare the platform to make 2011 the year of healing, reconciliation, forgiving, sharing, and of reclamation of what is rightfully ours; a just, peaceful and prospering state. It is time for monumental change and transformation”.
This Christmas, as we revel and celebrate, recognise Jesus and worship, forgive and forget, and meet with family and friends, let us commit to changing and transforming our society by beginning with our individual lives, and then, in every family, and community in which we are placed and operate, in a wholesome, unselfish and Christ-like manner. The words of the Desiderata describe best how we can achieve this:
“Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.”
A Merry, Peaceful, and Secure Christmas to all!

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