Christmas Message: Opposition Leader Ralph Thorne

Barbadians need to recapture the old spirit of Christmas and the virtue of generosity, says Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne.

And this means extending the hand of Christian love in both spiritual and material ways.

“Maybe, if we feel that these are not the best of times, they can be made good again by the supremely generous effort of each person, regardless of his means. That was the spirit of those erstwhile times, when governments were wise and just; that was the spirit of Christmas,” Thorne said in his Christmas message.

“After our individual and collective generosity has brought happiness into the lives of our fellow citizens, the perennial problem of the violation of our peace continues to be a social dilemma. Something has happened in our national life that has rendered sacred times and spaces subject to almost daily violence.

“Governments should not renege from their responsibility to guarantee social systems of safety by blaming the citizens for erosion of the peace. Again, the citizens are taxed in order that these systems should work for the common good.”

Full Christmas message by Leader of the Opposition Ralph Thorne:

In Christian tradition we have always associated the words ‘peace’, ‘joy’ and ‘love’ with this Season, but those virtues have become threatened by a materialist culture that engulfs our lives.

Many, who are still alive, lived through the times when our prosperity was more spiritual than material and the Season of Christmas represented a bridge between that spiritual bounty and an impoverished material condition. The act of generosity would be built on that bridge of human values and everyone looked after each other.

The worth of our society now stands to be judged by the strength of those human values, which seem to exist in a place where lifestyles sometimes rage against financial reality. It must be an unfair thing when that harsh financial reality is imposed by forces that ought to have done otherwise.

Taxation by governments dates back to ancient and Biblical times. Its purpose has always been to guarantee and provide the common good. Governments have been the legitimate mediators of these fiscal systems at the centre of which are the virtues of wisdom and trust. A trustee does not have to be wise to be trusted, but that trust becomes eroded in the event of unwise wastage of the collective resource. Maybe then, the common good is guaranteed by a combination of wisdom and trust.

Our society now experiences a depressing reality in which hardship seems to visit the lives of many more than previously. These are credible reports that become more depressing at this sacred Season of Christmas.

We must now trust each other to make that greater effort to stand on that bridge of human values and recapture the virtue of generosity and that old spirit of Christmas, in extending the hand of Christian love in spiritual and material ways.

Maybe, if we feel that these are not the best of times, they can be made good again by the supremely generous effort of each person, regardless of his means. That was the spirit of those erstwhile times, when governments were wise and just. That was the spirit of Christmas.

After our individual and collective generosity has brought happiness into the lives of our fellow citizens, the perennial problem of the violation of our peace continues to be a social dilemma. Something has happened in our national life that has rendered sacred times and spaces subject to almost daily violence.

Governments should not renege from their responsibility to guarantee social systems of safety by blaming the citizens for erosion of the peace. Again, the citizens are taxed in order that these systems should work for the common good.

The time of Christmas must once again become a sacred time of peace for all humanity. The times of Christmas past did not know violence.

Those times of Christmas past were not of simple happiness, but it was an experience of that intense delight called joy. In this regard, the responsibility for joy is personal and springs from a desire deep within. And so, we must never abandon our personal responsibility.

Those who remain faithful within the Christian tradition, accept that love is the greatest of all the virtues. Paul, in his famous letter to the Corinthians, acknowledged the many facets of the expression of love. I commend most highly the facet of endurance. That endurance ought to stretch not only across time, but must also reach deep in a way that influences our actions, where we give beyond self interest.

Such is love, such is Christmas!

Let us then as a nation, re-discover that love that will endure even beyond good times and let us once again re-discover our humanity on that bridge of true peace, joy and love.

Let us truly celebrate the meaning of Christmas in a way that brings fulfilment to self and happiness to all.

Merry Christmas to all Barbadians here and within the Diaspora!

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