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My Dear People of the Laborie constituency which consists of the communities
of Laborie Village, Augier, Banse, La Grace, LaHant, Benanger, Morn Cabait,
Valliea, Adoods, Shatnay and Anoose, Moan Paul and More Veat.
How quickly has the time passed us by and into another year and deeper into
another century. Did we become wiser by its passage; did we become more loving,
more understanding more charitable and more knowledgeable as our time and our
life engaged each other in the tenuous solidarity of our collective
consciousness. Or did we become more malicious, more vengeful, more myopic, more
grasping, more unforgiving and more violent as we for a year swam downstream the
course of our lives in hedonistic glee and perverse satisfaction.
What have we all achieved on the level of “me,” not on the level of the society,
or the level of the community, but on the level of me ”ego”? For that is where
the answer lies in terms of your dreams or expectations regardless how mundane
or sublime. What you want of yourself look deep into yourself and what you want
of another look deeper into yourself. And it is this introspection that in its
ineffable magnificence will reveal to you the celestial grandeur of life in its
majestic simplicity.
You see, life has one aim; to be lived. And it is an art to live it well. And to
acquire that art one must not be obsessed with the secular order of things. As
“St.Paul said whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever
things are true, whatsoever is amiable, whatsoever things are of good restraint,
if there be any virtue, if there be any praise have these on your mind”, let
your thoughts run upon these.
Have you during this passed and passing year looked for these things within
yourself.
There is Truth and there is Beauty – look within yourself.
There is Violence and there is Greed – look within yourself.
There is Love and there is Charity – look within yourself.
There is Hate and there is Jealousy – look within yourself
There is Poverty and there is Strife – look within yourself.
And there is Hope and there is Peace – look within yourself
Look within yourself, for you essentially are the world.
If I build a new hospital and attitudes do not change we are back to square one.
If I build 10 Bordelais and attitudes do not change – the violence continues.
If I build a mansion for everyone and attitudes do not change, the mayhem
continues.
And we say that in the very rich countries there is no crime even comparatively
speaking?
Yet statistics have shown that in the times of depression there was less crime
than in times of affluence.
We do not live in a perfect world: but we live in a world where each and
everyone of us can make a difference for the better. And this can be done in so
many ways: in so many little ways. In the homes, in the school, in the
work-places, in the recreational area and even in the churches.
But the caveat is this: to do those little things for the better we have to look
deep into ourselves. And this is an extraordinary process, and extraordinary
journey: for you cannot look deep into yourself without encountering your soul.
And it is the ensuing mystical revelation that transmutes the little that you do
for better.
My Christmas message to you is not about wood or stone nor steel or concrete. In
my opinion there is another time and place for this secular and material
obsession and myopism. All you need to know and in that context is that my
mission of service is an ongoing process for the better and on whatever level.
And though my message to you can be particularised in terms of this constituency
yet it is so very catholic in its application and relevance.
We presently stand on the shifting sands of a passing year and on the threshold
of a brand new year. Shouldn’t we at this time measure ourselves against the
opportunities of that passing year and against the promises of the coming year.
I would suggest that you do: for it is in the process of so doing that your
value to yourself and your worth to the community can by you be ascertained. And
having done so, can you in all sincerity graciously accept the reality of your
me, the reality of ego.
You are all looking to Government and for Government. Let Government do what it
has to do and it will be done by this your government. But what is important is
what you have to do for the better. And regrettably it is this obligation that
is ignored by so many as they maliciously become embroiled in the obligations
that others have to discharge.
Do what you have to do for the better, for it is in the process of so doing,
that your doings will engage the doings of others in a situation of community
harmony national solidarity and development.
How can we create a better world if we, individually, do not become a better
person and collectively a better people.
And that is what we so desperately need at this point in time: a better person,
a better people, a better community, a better nation.
And this can only be achieved if each of us look deep into ourselves and have
this encounter with your soul and with your God – however defined.
And that is my Xmas message to you for 2004.
My achievements as your District Representative for 2003 in terms of wood and
stone and concrete and steel are at this time, and for me, irrelevant. What I do
know, and which is relevant for me, is that we have a good government and very
ably led; and generally speaking we are a good people.
Let us for 2004, and this is the essence of my Xmas message, be a better people.
And so at this time next year, we can stand before our individual mirrors, look
at “me”, and smile.
In conclusion I would like to thank all of you my people in/of Laborie, all my
staff in the Ministry of Labour Relations, Public Service and Cooperatives, all
my Cabinet Friends and Colleagues and all my friends and associates who in so
many ways, and for 2003, made me a better District Rep, a better Minister of
Government, a better Lucian and a better person.
Thanks for all the help you have given me and thanks for the good work you have
done throughout 2003. On occasions it has been trying but you with fortitude
courage tenacity and goodwill have held the course. Continue so to do in your
respective spheres.
And so on this note I wish you all a pleasantly eventful Christmas and a
Safe, Healthy, Happy, Prosperous and Productive 2004.
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