LAST Christmas a young person with Saint Lucia connections found a temporary job at a New York hospital. As the festive season neared she was asked to participate in her departmentâs Christmas ritual, randomly selecting a wish list sent by underprivileged city children. The young worker chose three separate wish lists, instead of one, as directed. Of the three, one asked for a cell phone, one a train set and the third, a girl, asked for a book. They were three and four-years. Each got what they asked for but the third child was sent five age-appropriate books, four more than she asked.
There are no hard and fast rules by which to measure what the children felt after they had sent off their wish list, or when they received their presents. We may however surmise that each little heart was filled with joy upon receipt of their Christmas wish. It may well have been their greatest gift.
That young employeeâs action makes us think more deeply about the art of giving. Giving recalls at least two beneficiaries; the recipient and the donor. Who benefits more is both interesting and intriguing. The recipient is happy because a need has been fulfilled and the donor is happy because he has pleased. These two aspects to giving go further. The material thing that is given loses its value over time and is soon gone. The spirit of the donor meanwhile is strengthened and he soon discovers that he needs (and desires) less and less of material comforts of life. This is not religious fiction; people who habitually give learn to make do with less and are happier and less stressful.
These are the lessons from the young worker in New York. She voluntarily went beyond what her department had asked of her, and made three children happy.
There are young people in Saint Lucia and the Caribbean who would do the same in the identical situation.
At Christmas the media is filled with efforts by corporate citizens bringing cheer to needy children and their families. Increasingly, foreign companies (and countries too), help children and parents enjoy this time of year.
In the rush to cash-in on gift-giving one ought to guard against an emerging pattern that looks more and more as pay back for favours received. For example, when a person or a company is forgiven thousands of dollars in back taxes or NIC payments, turns and offers a Member of Parliament hundreds of hams and other goodies at Christmas, is this a quid-pro-quo or pay back?. Are such âgiftsâ to be used for a political purpose and is this another form of corruption?
Regardless of the answer the point remains that such large donations are hidden in plain view while using the spirit of the gift-giving season to defraud the poor tax payer. One ought therefore not to drop oneâs guard at Christmas but instead be on the lookout for those who give with the right and steal more with the grasping left. The saying: Tom drunk but, Tom no fool,â should guide our every thought at parties and in public spaces more than ever.
The police have warned that criminals lurk everywhere. Many use the gift-giving season to help themselves into homes and businesses exiting with âgiftsâ and leaving pain and sorrow behind without as much as a âThank Youâ note. Nothing of value is spared.
Such people force the rest of us to re-think the real meaning of Christmas and what needs to be inculcated in the population. Putting the central message of âChrist-made-manifestâ aside for the moment, may I suggest that the best gift at Christmas is that which we give to ourselves? It is taking control of our lives, individually and collectively, and rejecting greed and gluttony while giving willingly, expecting nothing in return.
Needless hiding behind the celebrations and denying that the duty one owes is the exercise of self-control at all times. This is more critical for adults than it is for children. To guard against excesses is the best example to set children. Decide how much you will eat and drink and do not pig-out because children learn what you do; not what you say.
This is not intended as an unhappy kill-joy Christmas agenda. Far from it! What is intended is for the obese, the alcoholic, and those generally out of control, to allow Prudence to direct them; Temperance to chasten them; Fortitude to support them; and Justice to guide them. Maintain discipline and hold on to tried and tested virtues while taking time to praise your God however you perceive Him. These are the greatest gifts people can give to themselves and to their children this Christmas.
Also, learn to look differently and more kindly at people you do not know and do not like? People can change! Change is the only constant in life. Take a moment to be alone and to dig deeper into your inner self perchance to find the source of fortitude and strength which should help cope with inevitable change in the New Year. Better to prepare and anticipate change than to pretend that itâs not possible.
Read a book over the holidays and try to write the story of your life truthfully. You may be surprised how unique you are. I have said that I write for my own pleasure but I also readily admit that I also write to educate and enlighten. Besides, I need to engage with kindred spirits. Thatâs the greatest gift no matter the season or the circumstances. Have a blessed Christmas everybody and may the New Year bring the benefits of rewarding change that so many look forward to.
But back to more gender-less as INTELLECTUAL conversation:
Sensei SOM, lets not forget the glossy sweetened media coverage of the OKLOHOMA FEDERAL BUILDING bombing by the ex US soldier McVee
(uuum another of Peter Josie’s favorite IRISH men)
The excuses heaped on him , to tug at the public’s sympathy for deranged ex soldiers were more forgiving than the lost souls who perished-
and viewed mostly as collateral damage
This gauntlet is for Citizen KoKane Head/
I know you are lost to any form of redemption ; spiritual, DETOX or sexual depravity conversion)
but please return to dwarf banana sized strap ons.
That new Mandigo model used by your white concubine in her “I got the Power”
female dominant position- is gonna wreck your pelvic girdle-
if not your sphincter,
in less than a year.
I know you crave the taboo of an Amazon tigress,
the allure is splattered all over your cognitive dissonance with MY VIRILE GENDER
IDENTITY!
Malheureusement, any authentic enlightened black woman would repulse a cocaine head as if contaminated with bucolic plague (circa European Black Plague đ TIME đ
Since you and your gay lover, Son-of-man, are so busy having a field day at Citizen Kane’s expense, let me remind you of what one blogger had to say about of you:
“Dassault- congratulations , you have just won the diarrhea of words/constipation of thought award. The last winner was an old 35RPM record that ran an endless loop of the same words for 12 days. But yours was the superior effort. Week after week the same tiresome, mindless critique of Peter Josie. The same words and never a new idea. Who cares what you say he might have done 20 years ago and why would that apply to a comment regarding todayâs news. Several days ago you admitted your writings were an effort to improve your language skills. Your âdiarrheaâ award is a clear indication of your current status. It has become clear to me why you never use your real name as owner of your critique. In my last series I suggested it had to do with your lack of testicles but there is clearly a second diagnosis in evidence â an awareness of your lack of competence.”
“Dassault â back to submarines, are we. It still boggles my mind that you choose to model your efforts of concealment on this military anachronism. Sitting on the bottom of the sea awaiting an order to potentially end the world requires a bizarre mindset. And somehow deterrence seems beyond your current scope. Why donât you try being a Ninja or go back to my initial suggestion, a Klu Klux Klaner.
Shame on you for talking naughty. But this discussion of your hypogonadism seems to have struck a nerve. Could it be that my persistent labeling you a eunuch has been wrong? Perhaps your testosterone deficiency is congenital. Perhaps you really are a girl. If so, please excuse my error. But no female author would ever refuse to sign her critiques, at least none that I respect.”
Here is more Dassault:
“Dassault- Gosh, I hope your wounds are not fatal. From a man/woman who has âassâ in his/her first name and whoâs last name is a visual nothing, Dumb-manure is a step up. Congrats on your mental masturbation riff noted above. Your mastery of curve balls and nuckle balls, especially from one whose balls are absent, was spectacular but missed the plate. But existing in an ex- pat paradise such as you now appear to do allows an assumed dominance that us simple back woods folks must accept. Sorry, but you is what you is. And an anonymous semi-wordsmith who canât get off his/her Peter Josie bender ainât much. But the choir appreciates your effort.”
This one blogger had plenty to say to you and your pal Son-of-man:
“Dassault (aka Frog Jet)- they donât allow no Frog plane out here in the boondocks. Might scare the chickens and pigs. But Iâm confused. Who are you? A submarine, a jet , a laser, a samauri, a looney tune just out of the Psych ward after a month stay for multiple personality disorder. Your fellow choir member âSon of Manâ used the term âDoctorâ. Could it be true? Am I challenging someone with so much education? How dare I? One then must presume you are a gynecologist because of your extensive knowledge of the female anatomy and extensive familiarity with sex toys. But males of the species would feel safe with their woman in the hands of a eunuch. But wait, we have yet to determine you are not a girl. And that you tube. We donât allow no RuPaul types out here. Makes the banana pickers confused. Josie didnât ask me to deal with your fecal stream. Nor does he care what you and your choir say/think. As for me, it is something to do between trips to the river and picking grapefruit. Sometimes the grapefruit is more interesting.”
Dassault, you and your gay pal Son-of-man who was molested, as a young boy, by a priest on Micoud Street are a perfect match; you two assholes belong together.
Now, let me get back to preparing and sending out year-end information to our clients. You’ll be hearing from me again.
Peetar hurry back from your X-Mas HANGOVER, your KoKane Citizen pawn is TOO BORING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pleasey Please Peetar -at least you are a chivalrous scoundrel………
Pete ole boy,
The half life of a âJudas High Priestâ isotope moves rapidly in its vertigo inducing premature retreat to its destined âevent horizonâ , i.e., unabashed hypocricy. (the word/concept PREMATURE shall be REVISTED when we discuss your ABORTED /derailed AL level ST Maryâs scholastic pathway)
Is this the reason why you utilize a closeted in a latrine, Kokane Citizen BLOCK- Head pawn to run interference for you on this Chess forum.
Your garcon use to c-muen guen but lately his sexual and drug depravity is off the chains. He can only regurgitate the crusty stool piles he has licked from your other desperate supporters.
I know he is as imaginative as a slice of bland âstale white bread but he has become the epitome of BOREDOM.
Is that your rearguard strategy Peetar- enlist a pipsqueak cracker-a mere garcon at that- to cover your flanks and rear.
Lull the authentic warriors at the ramparts into idle boredom?
You got another thing coming-from us- Pete old boy .
Hurry and nurse that huge X-Mas HANGOVER, Peetar!
I think the voice is being bias when threatening to block people who make threatening comments on your paper but you have this “Son of man” guy writing in a foreign language, no one knows what he is talking about, it could be threats of Jihad for that matter, it is published and you allow it but a local person try to make a simple comment and he is blocked from doing so, hypocritical I must say.
He is already condemned for all his ugly comments about God and Jesus and for the paper allowing it to be published.