Today, we celebrate Christmas and as is traditional there will be a lot of merrying, partying and celebration in various forms with preparation and consumption of a wide range of foods and beverages. And of course the children will be showered with toys and gifts.

This has been the tradition for the past decades and still is, and from all indications will remain so for a very long time.
However, while we celebrate and enjoy ourselves we must not lose sight of the fact that many people cannot celebrate and enjoy themselves for various reasons. Some cannot celebrate because of financial constraints, while others may have encountered tragic circumstances like fires, deaths of close ones, robberies, serious illnesses, etc.
Too often we are so immersed and overwhelmed by our personal enjoyment that we become totally detached from the plight of the less fortunate and this is tragic when we consider that this celebration is essentially about the birth of a man who demonstrated compassion, love, understanding and care about the less fortunate. He always stood on the side of the poor and downtrodden.
But unfortunately, perhaps in the pursuit of materialism, we have lost these values and qualities that are so essential to make this world a better one. Christmas has become so commercialised that even the children – especially the children -are being targeted, and the true spirit of Christmas has largely been lost.
There are some entrepreneurs who salve their consciences by making some highly-publicised donations during the festive season, while all year long they rob their employees, deduct PAYE and NIS payments without forwarding these dues to the respective agencies.
Many persons have worked all their lives, or for the majority of their working lives with one employer, confident that in their twilight years they would be able to live on their pension, only to learn that their former employers had never paid any monies over to the NIS, despite the monthly deductions that had been made.
Then there are the employers of store clerks and other minimum wage workers, whom are forced to sign for one salary while in actuality receiving a payment far less than the minimum wage stipulated by law.
Man’s inhumanity to man knows no boundaries and lost, largely, is the true spirit of Christmas that once defined the Guyanese psyche.
Many Guyanese spend thousands on illuminating their homes with the costliest of decorative lights, but their hearts are dark with spite and vindictiveness.  Their homes are cleaned from top to bottom, but the crevasses within their souls are mean and corroded with evil and selfishness.
Thousands are spent on liquor, fancy dresses and beauty salons without caring that there may not be enough milk or other necessities for their children after the ‘sport’.
Ancestors did not have a lot of money, and they lived simple lives; but their Christmas celebrations were more meaningful and reflected the true spirit of Christmas.
There are business executives whose hearts are not cash registers but who have the Christmas spirit residing within, an integral part of their humane approach to life and dealing with their fellow humans; and for these persons, Christmas is for them every day of the year, because they share their bounty whenever and wherever the need arises to lift their fellow humans out of various situations of need. So for persons such as this, the celebration of Christmas is an everyday affair, because the true spirit of Christmas is a generosity of the soul and that of being caring and compassionate.
But one does not have to have wealth in order to share and alleviate the sorrow of others in need – a kind word, a helping hand, a patient ear; all of these are integral to the celebration of Christmas.
Therefore, while we celebrate and enjoy ourselves we should also, in whatever way we can, strive to bring some degree of joy and comfort to those who are less fortunate or are experiencing sadness as a result of tragic circumstances. Perhaps it is beyond the imagination of the mind to understand how people who cannot celebrate but have to watch and observe how others are having a rollicking time.
The other aspect we should pay keen attention to is the ‘over indulgence in food and beverages’, particularly the alcoholic ones. This is not healthy and many who consume large amounts of alcohol cannot control their emotions and very often celebrations turn into nightmares as they degenerate into brawls and in extreme cases even killings. The other problem is driving under the influence during the festive season which has resulted in tragic road accidents in the past. We should pledge to do NOT drink and drive so as ensure that the Christmas celebration is not transformed into a disaster for us or others, or both.
While we celebrate it is also a good time to reflect and analyse where and why we went wrong with a view of rectifying those mistakes and vowing not to repeat them. Merry Christmas to all our readers!