Christmas messages: The Lieutenant-Governor - The Bailiff - The Dean

Christmas message: The Lieutenant-Governor




WELL, Christmas has nearly arrived and there is precious little time left for those last-minute purchases or preparations.
Right across the world, families will be gathering to celebrate Christmas together. Last year that is precisely what we did. All our children and grandchildren flew to the Island and we had a wonderful Christmas Day at Government House.
This year will be very different. As the children were with us last year, it is only right that they should spend this Christmas with their in-laws.
For Valerie and me, this will be a first. We spent our first Christmas together on our honeymoon in the Slovenian Alps. The following year was rather different and I spent Christmas Day flying a helicopter overhead in Londonderry during the Troubles.
By the following year we had our first child and from then on Christmas has focused on the children and subsequently the grandchildren. So with no children around this will be a very different Christmas for us, 34 years on from our honeymoon.
It does, however, prompt us to think of those who are unable to spend a traditional Christmas together with their families.
As one looks around the world it seems even more difficult than normal to reconcile the Christmas message of the birth of Christ and the spreading of peace and goodwill to all men, with what is actually going on.
As the world reels from the shock of the terrorist attack on hotels in Mumbai; as the facts about starvation, oppression and disease in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe continue to emerge in all their horrific detail; as the fighting among rival ethnic groups intensifies in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo; and just because the world’s media are no longer enthralled by conflict in Darfur does not mean that the situation is any better in Sudan than it has been at any point in recent years; it really is difficult to focus on shepherds and angels and Christ’s birth in a manger.
And yet perhaps there is a positive message in all of this. Just because we cannot solve every problem in the world does not mean that we should not continue to do what we can where we can. I am repeatedly amazed at the generosity of Jersey people when supporting charities, especially those involved in international relief work.
This support is not just financial. Many Islanders have devoted much of their lives to communities around the world in desperate need of help and spend much of their time in difficult and dangerous places helping other people. It is also true to say that you do not have to travel far to find people in need of help. There are many in this Island who are disadvantaged and in need of support. Again the charitable effort that supports them is admirable and reflects great credit on the Island’s well developed sense of community spirit.
Perhaps this then is the true meaning of Christmas: a willingness among all the parties and presents, the carols and the turkey, to think of those who do not share the joy of living in such a community as we do. Those who will struggle to sustain themselves in safety while the Christian world celebrates the birth of Christ, himself born into a land ravaged by occupation and strife. As we do so, perhaps we should spare a thought for the members of Her Majesty’s Armed Forces deployed around the world, but especially in Afghanistan and Iraq, who will not be spending this Christmas with their families.
It is, perhaps, worth remembering that over 200 of our servicemen have been killed or wounded on operations since last Christmas and the conflict in Afghanistan looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future.
Closer to home we should pay tribute to those dedicated members of our emergency services; in the Police, the Fire and Rescue Service and the Ambulance Service as well as the doctors and nurses at the hospital who will be on duty on our behalf on Christmas Day; and those staff members at the Shelter and the Refuge and elsewhere in our community who give their time so freely to care for the disadvantaged members of the community.
Despite the difficult circumstances that prevail around much of the world today, I do believe that there is a lot for the Island to celebrate this Christmas.
The way that the population has responded to requests for charitable support has been remarkable and should be cause enough for celebration at this time of year. So let us all look forward and pray for a year to come in which communities around the world begin to learn to live in peace with one another; and may Jersey people continue to support disadvantaged people at home and abroad as they have done so willingly and so successfully during this year.
Valerie joins me in wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a prosperous, but above all a peaceful, New Year.
The Lieutenant-Governor and his wife Valerie with their Pomeranian dog Wil-a-bee

Christmas message: The Bailiff


THIS is the last time that I shall have the privilege, as Bailiff, of writing a Christmas message for readers of the JEP.
Retirement looms, although I hope that it will not involve a complete withdrawal from public life.
Looking back over the last 12 months, it has been in some respects an annus horribilis for Jersey or, in plain English, a bad year.
The national and international media fastened upon some injudicious statements from the police in relation to their investigation into historic child abuse, and the Island was subjected to a torrent of wild and extravagant reports which most of us knew in our hearts to be untrue. A more sober assessment of the truth is now beginning to emerge.
All abuse of children is a shocking breach of trust, and we can but hope that any past wrongdoing will be exposed and appropriately punished. The extreme criticisms of Jersey have, however, been shown to be without foundation.
Looking forward, there are many reasons for optimism. This is still a beautiful island, and a wonderful place to live, as it always has been. On the whole people are more polite, and more aware of each other as neighbours, than in larger countries. The sense of community is strong, and efforts are made to include minorities and to care for the disadvantaged.
Huge amounts of valuable work are done on an entirely voluntary basis. Despite the credit crunch, Jersey is better placed to face the future than many other places. The imperative will be to ensure that those at the bottom end of the economic scale are protected.
During my term of office one change has been that we have begun to see ourselves much more as a small nation which is independently capable of great things.
With globalisation, and our economic success, Jersey is no longer a mere dot on the map. Like the small city states of ancient Greece which produced artists, philosophers, traders and sportsmen of lasting achievement, we can and do excel in many different ways. It may be that in the cultural sphere we fall some way short of Athens and Corinth, but there is time yet.
Our constitutional privilege of self-government has made all this possible. Jersey has had judicial independence and political autonomy for over 800 years, but in these times of global tensions such constitutional freedoms should not be taken for granted. Challenges to our freedoms and to our way of life can sometimes appear over the horizon with surprising speed.
This is, however, a time for rest and relaxation. My wife and I send all your readers our best wishes for a happy Christmas and a joyful New Year.
Christmas message: The Dean


CHILDREN have never been far from the headlines this year. Sometimes it’s for very good reasons as we celebrate the passing of exams, or a great triumph in the sporting world or high achievement in the cultural heights of the Jersey Eisteddfod, itself celebrating its 100th birthday in 2008.
At other times it has been in tragic circumstances: the death of a much anticipated baby, a road accident claiming the life of a teenager or the story of someone whose life is deeply scarred by physical, mental or sexual abuse. These stories rightly arouse our compassion, horror and demands for justice.
It is also right that we closely examine every facet of our Island life, family and community, educational and institutional to ensure that every young life entrusted to our care is safe, secure, loved and encouraged to develop to their full potential. Jesus himself makes it quite clear that those who ruin the lives of children will answer at a far higher court than anything found here.
‘Christmas is a time for children’ so the old saying puts it. At the Deanery, Daphne and I can’t wait for two of our grown-up children to come home for Christmas and for our third to arrive a few days later bringing our first grandchild to share New Year with all of us in Jersey.
Whether it’s boules on the beach or charades at home, being together, sharing life and love, giving and receiving from all that God has given to us brings us nearer the heart of Christmas. But it’s not the same if someone is left out; and there may be those who are left out who are quite close to some of us.
This year, as God’s children together, it must be the moment to decide that nobody will be excluded from His love and our share of showing that to each other.
If there are neglected children we must help to make their cries known rather than keeping quiet because it seems the easier thing to do. If there are old folk on their own then an invitation to share a meal or an evening of family fun could make all the difference this Christmas. When we’ve helped all those it is easy to help then it’s time to help those who might get forgotten: the homeless, the alcoholics, the addicts and the teenagers who run to cities like London to get away from hopelessness to find the big city bleaker than they could have imagined. How? Our friends at the Salvation Army will always have a way to channel our help to those who need it most.
Getting back to childhood: can you remember being taught to write ‘Thank You’ letters? I’m sure it’s e-mails, text messages and mobile phone calls now but the principle is the same.
All those presents speak of relationships of love and friendship which need nurturing and growing in the New Year. We get the tradition of giving and receiving presents at Christmas not from the Wise Men who brought gold, incense and myrrh to Jesus but from God himself who gave the first and best Christmas present to all of us: His Son, Jesus Christ.
Whatever 2009 holds for us as individuals, families and as an Island community going forward with God, building on the love He shows and the peace Christ brings is the best way to make Christmas last all year!
Daphne and I love being in Jersey, and want to thank the people of this wonderful Island for your friendship and support. We join with Roman Catholic Nicholas France, Methodist David Coote and all Church leaders to wish you a very Happy Christmas and God’s richest blessing in 2009.