and family. It is a time to give thanks to God for his protection since Christmases past. It is also a time to reflect on our blessings and to remember those who are not so blessed.

There can be no doubt that God smiles on this little Island with his protection and his blessing. As much as any place on Earth, Bermuda is blessed by God.

People would do well this Christmas to think of God's blessings and to ponder on whether or not their individual contributions to Bermuda and other Bermudians are worthy of the great blessings bestowed by God.

Does each and every one of us take care of the beauty bestowed so liberally on Bermuda by its Creator? There are a number of organisations like the National Trust and Save Open Spaces which put their heart and soul into looking after Bermuda and things Bermudian. But the real answer is that some people do and some do not care for Bermuda but each and every one of us should do so. We do not own this Island.

We are only stewards of Bermuda for our time.

Do we extend to our fellow Bermudians the care and understanding God would have us extend? This is a Country where people contribute, they volunteer and they work hard.

Organisations like the Matilda Smith Williams and the Packwood old folks homes, PALS, the cancer care group, and the "Pink Ladies'' are models for those who contribute. But still we do not do enough because, if we did, there would be less poor people among the opulence that is Bermuda, less people in prison and no need for homeless shelters.

Do we love our neighbours as God would have us do? The great majority of Bermudians are loving and caring and concerned about their fellow Bermudians. But there are exceptions. There are among us people, white and black, who are racist and uncaring and determined to have their own way. We do not think there are as many as it sometimes seems but there are too many. They divide other Bermudians and they stand in the way of harmony. They know who they are this Christmas and they should fall on their knees.

Do we give thanks to God for the wealth and the abundance he has bestowed on us? Far too often, Bermudians complain about what we have and do not have without so much as a mention of how blessed we are by God. We tend not to count our blessings and to dwell on our relatively few deprivations. We keep asking for more and more material goods with far too few thanks for what we have and far too little sharing of our abundance.

Christmas is a time to reflect and to count our blessings.

Merry Christmas