The following is a Christmas message from Opposition Leader Owen Arthur.
The message of Christmas – peace on earth and goodwill to all mankind – has been an inspiration to countless generations of men, women and children across the Christian world for the past 2 000 years.
So too has its symbols, especially the story of Mary and Joseph; simple folk, living ordinary lives, yet destined to show that ordinary people can create extraordinary history.
And the spirit of Christmas – the feeling of good cheer, the triumph of hope and the expression of joy to the world – reminds us that no matter how difficult our circumstances may be, there is always something uplifting to look forward to.
This has been a very difficult year for our country. It is important that we should nonetheless take some time to celebrate our blessings and our good fortune in being able to live in this blessed land.
It is however also important that we should seek to draw deeply on the message, the symbols and the spirit of Christmas, not only during this season, but over the entire year ahead.
We need to create the good cheer in Barbados that comes from success. We need also to continue to show that simple, ordinary Barbadians, like Mary and Joseph, can write their stories large on history’s page. We need especially to fill our lives with feelings of hope, with the optimism that we will find our place in the inn, and that our nation will rise above any difficulties that confront it.
My special wish this Christmas for our country is that we will succeed in putting our economic difficulties behind us, and that the name Barbados will continue to resonate as a place specially touched and blessed by the Hand of God.
It is in this spirit that my wife and family, and the entire community of the Barbados Labour Party, join me in wishing each and everyone of you, including all visitors to our shores, a joyous and blessed Christmas, and all success and prosperity in the New Year.
