“Today in the town of David a savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord (Lk 2:11).

THE story line in many books and films is about a savior, a super hero, some one who will save the day, and restore order, security, peace and right relations where these have been compromised. In the time of Jesus, and before, the people of Israel expected the coming of a Messiah and some imagined that this Messiah would take on a military or regal or political role to liberate the people from oppression and misery.

In Guyana today there is much discussion and debate, at various levels in society, about a petroleum “saviour” that is due to appear in 2020. Many are looking towards this coming to be saved from financial difficulty, limited opportunity, unstable and threatening circumstances, not to mention the underlying hopes that some part of the abundant wealth will come their way.

In the discussion on oil revenue, a recommended approach to evaluate its “saving” capacity is to pay attention to the outcome in other countries which experienced a similar wind fall. The evidence strongly suggests that revenues managed well through transparent initiatives in service of the people and for the common good worked best for all concerned. We hope that this will be the case for Guyana.

But the Saviour born to us is not in the image of the hero in the story line moving in on behalf of others to save the day. The Saviour born to us is seeking a place in our hearts to defibrillate, to arrest the arrhythmia brought on by the trends and influence of the world and restore the beat of integrity, peace, justice, love, in sync with his own.

On the first Sunday of Advent we read from the Prophet Jeremiah:
See, the days are coming–it is the Lord who speaks–when I am going to fulfil the promise I made to the House of Israel and the House of Judah:
‘In those days and at that time,
I will make a virtuous Branch grow for David,
who shall practise honesty and integrity in the land.
In those days Judah shall be saved
and Israel shall dwell in confidence.
And this is the name the city will be called:
The-Lord-our-integrity.’ (Jer 33:14-16)

This is the Saviour born to us; not an external agent acting on our behalf but one seeking a place in our hearts so that we can act on his behalf, individually and together, many “virtuous branches” becoming a presence of Integrity, justice, love, and peace inserted in the reality of this present world. In the days to come the real boon and treasure and saving grace that would bring prosperity to Guyana is a people living their integrity and honesty and dwelling in confidence.

My wish to you, beautifully articulated for us in this season of Christmas, is that the integrity, honesty, confidence and the multiple gifts our Saviour born to us gives us may continue to grow in your hearts always.