Share, be wise this Christmas

19.DEC.08

Christmas Message from Hon. Arnhim Eustace – Leader of the Opposition

Once again, we have again reached that time of the year when we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It is that time when our hearts are strangely warm and we feel goodwill to all. Many of us see it as a time of giving and sharing and we sometimes wonder why we don’t feel that way all year round.

Can we find it in our hearts through our Lord and Saviour to feel that way all the year through? Or is it the wonder of the Christ child born in a lowly manger that wells up in our hearts?{{more}}

Whatever may be the reason, we all would agree that it is a wonderful time of the year, to me the most wonderful time.

But this year we celebrate Christ’s birth in grim economic times. We celebrate with the knowledge that harder times and many challenges will face us in 2009 and beyond. This will tend to dampen our celebrations since we will have less to spend and have less to share.

I wish to urge those that have to share generously with those who don’t in your respective communities or villages.

I wish to also urge all of us to spend wisely this Christmas, concentrate on what you need, not what you want. Remember that January will be a long month, with less help in many cases from family overseas and loss of jobs.

But sinners as we are we have fallen short in many respects, but our loving and forgiving God will not give us more than we can bear. But we must put our trust in Him and He will hear our cry. He will hear the cry of the people of the Nation of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

So as we celebrate the birth of the Christ child, let us do so with wisdom and dignity.

A Blessed Christmas and a happy New Year to all.