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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=1 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD><SPAN class=TopStory>Of Christmas and marriage</SPAN>
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, December 11, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>As I turned into my driveway, I was greeted by tiny lights, twinkling merrily from the trees and shrubs in my yard. I chuckled to myself because our neighbour had in fact won the Christmas lights race this year, but now my husband had finally caught up. Of course, we are nowhere as grand as several yards around our city, and we confess to driving around to enjoy the beautiful sights.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Jean Lowrie-Chin </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Psychologists encourage us to "live in the moment" to preserve our peace of mind. It is not as easy as it sounds, as we are constantly haunted by the past and preoccupied with the future. But when our senses are filled with the beauty of the moment, regrets and fears melt away. This is the power of a season that moves us out of ourselves into the wonderment of the Birth we celebrate.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The past week has been imbued with this spirit. We felt that wonderment at Molynes Road last Sunday, when some of Jamaica's best performers gave up half their day to raise funds for Our Lady of the Angels Church. Humble churchfolk drank in the music of Karen Smith, Maria Myrie, AJ Brown and Dwight Richards, all performing absolutely free. And we certainly enjoyed Father Alphonsus' Nigerian dance!<P class=StoryText align=justify>On Wednesday, Jamaica's top teachers and principals were honoured by Lasco, and praised by Dr Herbert Thompson, who himself remembered teachers who helped him to understand his true capabilities. On site hosting Hotline was another icon, Barbara Gloudon, a positive spirit with a quick wit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We were transported at Liberty Hall on Thursday evening, when CPTC launched their new video Frank Gordon, National Treasure. We have celebrated our dear Mass Frank in this column and it swelled our hearts to see this Garveyite on screen, and then at the mike, his voice as clear as his mind. He called for the other stories of his contemporaries to be told, St William Grant, Aggie Bernard, Ken Hill. "History is the greatest redeemer of man's understanding and love for one another," he reminded us.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Maas Frank's missionary zeal in his work as a JAMAL volunteer was lauded by Dr Joyce Robinson, while Prof Barry Chevannes rightly dubbed him "our folk philosopher, a lover of wisdom".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Angela Patterson, CEO of CPTC remarked on Frank Gordon's inspiring faithfulness to the St Benedict the Moor Catholic Church. She said 84-year-old Gordon, having walked up the steep driveway, is usually at Mass, well ahead of the younger members of the congregation.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=130 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>GORDON... exemplary lasting contribution to country and the world </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Why have these artistes, philosophers, and public servants moved us so deeply? It is because at great sacrifice they have drawn deeply from their beings to make their exemplary, lasting contribution to a church, to a nation, to the world. And all of them acknowledge the importance of Christian values in their lives.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave us the parable of the tal
<SPAN class=Subheadline></SPAN></TD></TR><TR><TD>Jean Lowrie-Chin
Monday, December 11, 2006
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<P class=StoryText align=justify>As I turned into my driveway, I was greeted by tiny lights, twinkling merrily from the trees and shrubs in my yard. I chuckled to myself because our neighbour had in fact won the Christmas lights race this year, but now my husband had finally caught up. Of course, we are nowhere as grand as several yards around our city, and we confess to driving around to enjoy the beautiful sights.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=80 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>Jean Lowrie-Chin </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Psychologists encourage us to "live in the moment" to preserve our peace of mind. It is not as easy as it sounds, as we are constantly haunted by the past and preoccupied with the future. But when our senses are filled with the beauty of the moment, regrets and fears melt away. This is the power of a season that moves us out of ourselves into the wonderment of the Birth we celebrate.<P class=StoryText align=justify>The past week has been imbued with this spirit. We felt that wonderment at Molynes Road last Sunday, when some of Jamaica's best performers gave up half their day to raise funds for Our Lady of the Angels Church. Humble churchfolk drank in the music of Karen Smith, Maria Myrie, AJ Brown and Dwight Richards, all performing absolutely free. And we certainly enjoyed Father Alphonsus' Nigerian dance!<P class=StoryText align=justify>On Wednesday, Jamaica's top teachers and principals were honoured by Lasco, and praised by Dr Herbert Thompson, who himself remembered teachers who helped him to understand his true capabilities. On site hosting Hotline was another icon, Barbara Gloudon, a positive spirit with a quick wit.<P class=StoryText align=justify>We were transported at Liberty Hall on Thursday evening, when CPTC launched their new video Frank Gordon, National Treasure. We have celebrated our dear Mass Frank in this column and it swelled our hearts to see this Garveyite on screen, and then at the mike, his voice as clear as his mind. He called for the other stories of his contemporaries to be told, St William Grant, Aggie Bernard, Ken Hill. "History is the greatest redeemer of man's understanding and love for one another," he reminded us.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Maas Frank's missionary zeal in his work as a JAMAL volunteer was lauded by Dr Joyce Robinson, while Prof Barry Chevannes rightly dubbed him "our folk philosopher, a lover of wisdom".<P class=StoryText align=justify>Angela Patterson, CEO of CPTC remarked on Frank Gordon's inspiring faithfulness to the St Benedict the Moor Catholic Church. She said 84-year-old Gordon, having walked up the steep driveway, is usually at Mass, well ahead of the younger members of the congregation.<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=5 width=130 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD></TD></TR><TR><TD><SPAN class=Description>GORDON... exemplary lasting contribution to country and the world </SPAN></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><P class=StoryText align=justify>Why have these artistes, philosophers, and public servants moved us so deeply? It is because at great sacrifice they have drawn deeply from their beings to make their exemplary, lasting contribution to a church, to a nation, to the world. And all of them acknowledge the importance of Christian values in their lives.<P class=StoryText align=justify>Two thousand years ago, Jesus gave us the parable of the tal