Dear Reader,

It’s amazing how quickly a new year comes around, but I am the first to admit that the speed might very well be a product of ageing. Despite the seeming rapidity of the 12-month cycle, however, every new year brings with it new hope and new aspirations, and this new year is no different.

There is no doubt that 2011 will be chronicled as one of the most challenging years in the history of Jamaica, but while that fact now seems indisputable, the truism that remains unchallenged is the resilience and fortitude of the Jamaican people – an attitude and disposition which continues to lend hope and optimism to every new year. In the midst of the overwhelming odds, most Jamaicans still succeeded in keeping their families going, sending their children to school, worshipping our Creator, and holding on to the dignity and that special spirit that makes us truly Jamaican.

The entrepreneurial genius of the Jamaican people remained alive and well throughout 2010, despite the formidable hardships. New and innovative ideas kept surfacing – from deep-fried chicken neck and back with festival for a bargain price of $40, to the man I witnessed on the street with a complete haberdashery on his motorbike – the most efficient and affordable “store on two wheels” I had ever seen.

Our people dug deep, even when hopelessness seemed to outpace them constantly. I met the amputee who spoke to me as he waited patiently to collect his daily meal from Father Holung’s Missionaries of the Poor, downtown Kingston, and who thanked God for His blessings, even while the sadness in his eyes revealed his suffering. And the old woman, with beautiful grey hair whom I watched every morning, pushing her handcart up the incline to settle in the choice spot on the corner of the road to get ready to start up her wood fire and kerosene pan of well-seasoned boiled corn – obviously her only source of income.

Even those who perfected the art of running and dodging police officers with scandal bags of items comprising profits so small as to defeat the cost of the running raids – even those Jamaicans persevered despite the challenges, right through to the close of 2010. It was a tough year, but the ethos of the Jamaican people remained unshakeable, and the new year, despite the doom-and-gloom prophesies, will no doubt be approached with the same type of faith and fortitude that exemplify the true character of Jamaicans.

I feel strongly that 2011 will be a pivotal year for our country. I also sense that it will be a year in which we will be forced to decide whether we are prepared to make the tough decisions to rescue our country from the stranglehold of corruption and criminality and set our sails toward a journey that will unleash the full potential of the Jamaican people, or remain on the same road that is currently leading us down a steady path of destruction.

Over the past few days, as I reflected on the prospect of the new year – the challenges and the opportunities, my daily devotionals helped to inspire my thoughts and actions, and I felt certain that it would bless your lives as well.

In the Best of The Word for Today, author Bob Gass in the piece entitled, “Facing the New Year” quoted from Luke 5 verse 4 which says, “Launch out into the deep.” Gass writes, “Mediocrity is just the best of the worst, and the worst of the best. Is that what you want? No? Then be willing to forfeit the safety of being where you are, in order to go where God wants you to be. Helen Keller said, “Security is a myth. The reason we don’t experience it is because it doesn’t exist. Avoiding danger of failure is no safer in the long run than outright risk. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” She also said, “The only thing that’s worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.”

“Launching out” means (1) setting goals, establishing a plan to reach them, and becoming accountable, (2) staying tuned to God’s “leadings”, (3) confronting old fears and discovering the incredible rewards on the other side of them; (4) looking in the mirror and respecting what you’re becoming; (5) devoting your life to something greater than yourself, and being blessed in doing it; (6)having a “Thou art with me” attitude, and attempting even greater things for God. So are you ready to “launch out” this year?

Another devotional reading prescribes the “Arm of Love”, saying, “You are to help to save others. Never let one day pass when you have not reached out an arm of love to someone outside your home – a note, a letter, a visit, help in some way. Be full of joy. Joy saves. Joy cures. Joy in Me. In every ray of sunlight, every smile, every act of kindness, or love, every trifling service – joy.

“How many burdens can you lighten this year? How many hearts can you cheer? How many souls can you help? And in giving, you gain ‘good measure, pressed down and running over’. I your Lord have said it.”

From me to you, I say Happy New Year, Jamaica! Let us together find the faith and fortitude to press on.

With love,

bab2609@yahoo.com