Speak up, Governor
tells spiritual leaders
PHILIPSBURG--In what might very well have been his last New Year’s speech as Governor of the Netherlands Antilles with the pending constitutional changes, Frits Goedgedrag called on spiritual leaders on Tuesday to give especially the youth guidance.
Goedgedrag specifically addressed the many spiritual leaders he had invited, during his traditional New Year’s reception at the Governor’s palace in Curaçao on January 2.
“It is often said of you that you are the salt of the earth. Salt is what preserves food and keeps it healthy. Salt prevents fish from spoiling. It prevents meat from going to waste. As ‘salt’ it is your calling to prevent our society from going bad and to make our people whole and healthy,” stated the Governor.
Goedgedrag said it was mostly everybody’s wish to see the good ingredients in our society preserved and to see our people developed to their full potential without any talent going to waste.
He said he “highly valued” the efforts and contributions spiritual leaders made through managing schools, stimulating parents to be involved in the upbringing of their children, engaging in helping the poor through the distribution of food parcels and clothing, manning soup kitchens, helping with house repairs and emergency aid. He also thanked the clergy for encouraging people when they were down, for comforting those who grieved and for caring for the sick.
But, asked the Governor, “is your message always heard?” He asked whether the spiritual leaders were making sure their message was received, whether they were in tune with the values, interests and concerns of young people, and whether they were connecting with this group.
“Are you speaking in their language? Is your aim to change young people so that they fit better into your community? Or are you willing to change your community so that you are more accessible, more attractive and more attentive to our young people?”
He encouraged the spiritual leaders to speak up clearly, “because we want to hear you.”
“Speak up and teach us how to be protected from evil. Speak up and warn us if there is danger. Speak up and call us to account if we violate our own values,” he said. He called on the clergy to be strong and courageous and to continue and multiply their good work.
To the rest of those attending the reception, the Governor said: “You may think these words do not apply to you. But they do! What good is a shepherd without a flock?” He asked people to listen to the spiritual leaders, to what they said about the values of life, tolerance and respect, and their message about how to live together in harmony.
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