OP:ED - Not one Guyanese should be without, not with so much

OP:ED – Not one Guyanese should be without, not with so much

Dec 30, 2022 Features / Columnists, News, The GHK Lall Column

By GHK Lall

Kaieteur News – Happy holidays to all Guyanese, no exceptions. Happy holidays also to those who have made Guyana their home, some temporarily due to commerce, others because of the necessity of circumstances. Having been there and lived with my own circumstances for an eternity, I know what it is like to be away from the land of one’s birth.

Every Guyanese should have plenty, enough to enjoy a hearty holiday season; enough leftover to share a little good cheer. This is the size of the endowment that has been given, the inheritance that is ours. The wish and prayer are that what is in mind is accurate. All have something, none is without. In a land as filled to overflowing as it is with riches, we are the ones that should be sharing joy to the world because we have such joy in our times, and also resonating in our hearts. Look at our numbers and how they gleam. Listen to how we feature in the conversations of countless others. When we were always on the move to elsewhere, others are tumbling over themselves to get here.

GHK Lall

It is not just a function of economics, but of the down to earth reality that is palpable, that touches first, and that then lingers for a long time within each of us. A contented populace is a generous one; its members can afford such luxuries, even those who have earned a reputation for being skinflints, and tightfisted. Thrift is truth, but kindness and care are righteous, even holy. These are the teachings, the substance, and the imperatives of this time of the year.

Without drifting into the religious, and regardless of whether one is a true believer, a believer of sorts, or a dogged nonbeliever, has no bearing. What is relevant, what should count, is that we are alive and aware of the pull and promise of this extraordinary time. A season from the mists of time that long ago made kings queasy, now the monarchs of today can’t stop talking about us. We may have no angels in the midst, but we could use a few saints and martyrs. We have causes calling at us from right in front of us. It starts with only one. Something to hold on; something worth sacrificing for. Remember that it only takes one.

I believe that Guyanese are a lavishly blessed people; and despite our troubles, our conspicuous limitations, surprisingly we are now beyond compare. Let it for the right reasons, and how we handle matters. We who used to and still think it normal to track from pillar to post to obtain some economic sustenance. The repertoire of natural disasters seems to have looked with a smile on us, and generously bypassed us. While an array of abundant natural resources have landed here, and taken up deep residence that has outlasted the ages. All the way down here in South America, we have our own version of manifest destiny. In American terms, we should be living thanksgiving, we are our own thanksgiving. This is saying something, isn’t it?

Here we are in December three years later (and the hopes and dreams), and we have been gifted with the nectar of the gods, for which men in 1000 ships set sail, with their compasses set dead center for this dot on the map. It is a dot that has grown to outsized proportions, with the rest of the world tumbling over itself to secure a spot here, any sweet spot. More ships and planes will come. We must grow alongside, prove that we are deserving of our graces, and the wisdoms and temperateness that have sidestepped us, will somehow come.

One man came, and the world of mankind has never been the same. Remember -he was only one. Guyanese should be in a holiday spirit daily, there is doubt that the devoted would be bored; or that those who prefer to be outside the pale would find it in themselves to believe. But they may, they would in time, temper their passions, tone down the prejudices, be receptive to the idea of a new and different way. It is the mystery and magnitude of December that one voice would lead to so much life. One doesn’t have to believe anything; but nature’s bonanzas are out there, and they ours. Of that, let there be no doubt, regardless of who tells us what.

It is time to go. This time of the year is of yearnings that come alive. I would hate to think that a single Guyanese is left behind, doesn’t have enough is of the forgotten. How can this be? Why should it be? Not when we have so much? Best of the season to all citizens. Now that we have more, we also have a duty to do more.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and beliefs of this newspaper and its affiliates.)