St. George’s, Grenada December 23rd, 2011:

Seasons Greeting my Fellow Constituents;

Christmas is a time to celebrate the Birth of Jesus Christ, a man whose life and whose examples have given us a value system which remains the greatest force for good in our communities and across many nations.

Christmas is a time for families to get together - To see old friends - To think of the good times and the good fortune which life has given us. In celebrating Christmas and enjoying that good fortune, we should set aside time to think about the lonely persons in our communities – those without family and those without friends.

This Christmas, I am again taking the opportunity to extend my deepest condolences to the many families in our constituency who has lost loved ones and friends during the year. I want to let you know that I continue to sympathize with you all and even though I was not able to be physically present on every occasion, rest assured that my prayers were always with you.

I also know that following the loss of loved ones, Christmas and the holiday season can be a particularly hard and emotional time. But please, put and keep your trust in the living Christ.

As we celebrate Christmas with family and friends, I also urge you to take some time to reflect on the pressing realities of the daily lives to which we must soon resume.

The hurdles that we, as residents of this Constituency and by extension the Citizens of Grenada, have faced and overcame during the past year must never be looked upon with regrets. The events of the nation and the wider world around us, no matter what those events may have been and how they had played out; were not of our own making or choosing. But we, as constituents showed character and simply rose to every occasion, we did what was necessary; we endured and persevered for the well being of ourselves and our families. 

Christmas is also a time for renewed Hope. We must live in hope and we must remain mindful of the fact that we, like the rest of our citizenry; must never surrender to a condition of life and make that condition permanent or let it become our inheritance.

We must challenge ourselves and dare to change disagreeable circumstances in our lives no matter what those conditions may be.

We must challenge ourselves and face-off against poverty and change it;

We must challenge ourselves and face-off against dysfunctions in our home and family life and change it;

We must challenge ourselves and face-off against the breakdown in social order in our communities and change it;

We must challenge ourselves and face-off against the poor performance of the economic machinery of our Constituency and that of our Country and firmly resolve to change that!

Fellow Constituents let me remind you this holiday season, that we are the drivers of the engines of the changes that will propel our constituency and our nation forward to become the “Healthy Educated and Productive Society” that our Constituency wants and deserves. 

Therefore, as we end this year and are entering the next, I appeal to all the residents of the St. Andrew’s Southwest Constituency to look, with introspection - look within ourselves.  Let us find the courage that resides within the hearts and souls of each and every one of us and make the decisions to change every displeasing aspect of our home life, our community life, and our social and economic lives and be prepared to live the richness that is heralded by the Birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For it is only then that we can emerge stronger and continue the epic journeys of our lives.

This year's Christmas seems unlike most others. The dreams of children for a bright Christmas have been replaced by the reality of a very bleak and cloudy one; complete with all the associated disruptions and discomforts for the elderly and the vulnerable in our society.

"The current economic situation is a source of anxiety for all of us. As we contemplate the hard task of restoring our economic prosperity, it is easy to get depressed as we look at the troubled state of our communities; without realizing that those problems have unified us and has brought us closer together as a community and indeed, as a nation.

The Christmas message of “Peace on Earth” – “Redemption” and “Goodwill to All”; in spite of our human flaws, has carried us as Christians for generations. Because of it, we endured through times of trouble and distress – through good times and bad times and so........ “Let us keep hope alive”.

Rest assured this Christmas, that glad tidings of comfort and joy are there to be celebrated by all of us no matter what our circumstances might be today.

My fellow constituents let us remain united and look forward to what the Birth of Christ promise for tomorrow...........

On behalf of the Constituency Executive, my family and myself, I wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Bright and Prosperous New Year.

May God Bless Us All