The missing Christmas message

Writing this article was difficult for two main reasons.

Firstly, the day before the article was due (Thursday) my laptop malfunctioned so I could not use it to work on the submission.

Exhausted after a long day, I decided to go to bed and wake early as usual (around 3 am), write by hand and find a computer during the day on which to type everything by midday.

I always use a computer when working on long documents; it affords me the capacity to write at (or close to) the speed of thought, and to delete, or easily rearrange sentences and paragraphs.

Writing "by hand" is now more for short notes, hurriedly scribbled lists of things to do or remember, or for drawing and doodling.

I did not get far writing by hand. Dawn came and I had written nothing, or, more precisely, whatever I had attempted lay in crumpled balls of paper all over the table.

Secondly, upon realising that my article would be published on Christmas Day, my thoughts instantly went to the people throughout the nation for whom this day of traditionally expected peace, joy, love, good cheer and merriment would bring no such feelings.

What could I write to or for them? Perhaps nothing.

I thought about the President and the annual task of delivering a Christmas address to the nation. Penning such a speech must become more challenging each year. Apart from avoiding redundancy, how does one generate a sense of hope in a nation where so many people are increasingly besieged by fear, anger, frustration, shock, trauma, grief, desperation and a host of other emotions, brought about by everything from the increasing cost of living to the rapidly rising, record-breaking murder count?

Moments later, I saw the following announcement on Facebook:

"There will be no video Christmas message this year from Her Excellency Paula-Mae Weekes ORTT, President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

This is because Her Excellency's nonagenarian mother has contracted covid and, as is recommended, Her Excellency is in quarantine."

For a moment it crossed my mind– what if there were no official Christmas message at all? Or, what if an address to the nation were to be made not by someone in high office, but by an "everyday" person, from "the streets", from a humble walk of life, from an unexpected quarter of society?

A beggar, a child, a struggling single mother, a prisoner – citizens who might be scorned or overlooked and underestimated by many, but who have a lot to say and value to offer from their unique points of experience.

One might draw a similarity between my suggestion of the "lowly" speech-giver and the Christmas story of the baby born in the manger surrounded by a few people (Mary Joseph, wise men) and some animals.

Whereas today, the manger is, for many, an important Christmas scene, displayed in a variety of ways with cute animals, smiling adults and clean surroundings, the reality is that such a setting would have been anything but pristine and decorative in those historical times.

To depict that scene realistically today in a home, in a mall or as a public display, would be to include the smells of animals and their dung and feature men possibly covered in dirt, sweaty and smelly after having travelled for ages over all kinds of terrain, to arrive at their destination. The mother of the baby and her husband were not well off. Their garments, most likely, would not not have been as stylish or clean as those featured in traditional Christmas illustrations.

How easily they would have been overlooked by the masses today – "those dirty poor people", "those wanderers" – standing around with unclean animals, not washing their hands yet touching the baby and spreading germs...

No way would any of them ever have been invited to make a Christmas speech in today's world. And even if they were, what could they have to say that would be of any importance?

What will replace the official Christmas video message to the nation? Perhaps a written online or press version.

But, were there still to be a video, with a substitute speaker which individual would you select?

Choose an everyday person, someone simple whom you might ordinarily overlook or not approach for conversation.

We are all of value. We all matter. We all want and need to be heard. We all have something useful to give. Whether it is Christmas or not.