My Fellow Sint Maarteners,
Anchored in the promise of the birth of Christ, I extend Christmas greetings to you.
As we gather with family and friends this Christmas and prepare for the new year let us remember:
Christmas is the season of purpose
Let us celebrate this season with a focus
To purposefully do all that is truly relevant to us
To act on matters to better our community
All driven by the spirit of this season’s love and humanity
In celebrating this season let us embrace the responsibility entrusted to us, through the birth of Christ, to dedicate and give our lives towards that which is genuinely meaningful, a happy and just society. For what better way to express our gratitude, as beneficiaries of the wonderful Christmas gift, than to give and share, thus fulfilling the role as our community’s keeper.
As we celebrate this season let us be thankful for our many blessings and the good in our society while recognizing the malevolent aspects of and less fortunate in our community. And in doing so let us imagine a more enlightened, brighter and perfect Sint Maarten. One shaped by reducing our self-interest in favor of increasing our common interest, through empathy with others by considering their well-being as our own. This, in keeping with the spirit of the season, calls for the strengthening and effective deployment of our caring, nurturing and giving traditions and values.
Thus as we celebrate the birth of Christ amongst family and friends and come to the close of 2012, I encourage you to embrace the enduring love and humanity of the season now and into the new year with the purpose of the perfecting of our society.
From Marie-Louise and I, to your family, we wish you joyous and safe holidays filled with the sustaining love and peace of Christmas! God bless you and God bless Sint Maarten.
The Governor of Sint Maarten
Eugene B. Holiday