Call to pray for Rowley

THE EDITOR: This is a call to all radio and television station programmers to devote a segment to lead the nation in saying a positive prayer, overloaded with best wishes, for Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley in this crucial time of uncertainty about his health.

At this decisive hour, let us send strong, well-intended vibrations to ensure the best outcome for an outstanding political bastion upon whom we have come to rely as a leader, both in opposition and in government, for more than 30 years.

As mainly passive beneficiaries of his massive contribution to our welfare over the years, it’s now our turn to at least acknowledge the tremendous work passionately carried out by one of our brave sons, who has steadfastly served the nation at the high cost of rejection and vilification in and out of Parliament.

As he now faces a major challenge with a threat to his health in his 70th year, this old wounded warrior needs all the support he can get, even as he presents us with an opportunity to redeem ourselves for our cruel treatment of like warriors of the past.

Remember how we let Eric Williams alienate himself and die alone in apparent grief and disillusionment over a cause he apparently thought he had lost? Never forget how many of us laughed in open glee at the brutalisation of ANR Robinson in 1990.

What about the large number who cheered when Basdeo Panday was ambushed for the leadership of the party he had founded? And who can forget how we vehemently chased Patrick Manning from Balisier House after the PNM general election defeat in 2010?

With Rowley, we are now challenged to raise the bar of our past venomous behaviour pattern and lift up our hearts in appreciation and compassion as we show love for one who has travelled far and long on many a rocky road in service to TT.

Such a move can also serve us well as a nation since, in this process, we stand to benefit from a shift in our collective consciousness to a higher level of expectation and expression of ourselves as a people now more consciously involved in the creation of a future.

RUDOLPH WILLIAMS, St James