Photo: Kenny Joseph

I love to go up to the lookout on the Lady Young Road. There we can get a panoramic view of the whole of Port of Spain.

We can pick out a building and see it from a totally different perspective. 

We can see its size in relation to the other buildings next to it. All the roads that lead to it are visible and for once, we can forget the garbage on the streets!

Height and distance make us see things differently. Naipaul, on his first flight out of Trinidad, was amazed that there was as much order and pattern in the landscape of Trinidad and Tobago.

The new year is a moment when we can distance ourselves from our normal work situations. We take the time to reflect to ponder and to treasure the blessings of the past year.

I used to wonder why Caribbean people go to church more on New Year's Night than on Christmas. Now I understand that there is a deep historical reason rooted in our African heritage for giving thanks at this time and for asking God's blessings on the new year ahead.

As we eat our black-eye peas for a reason we hardly know, we reflect that God's perspectives are different from ours and our entering into his plans will make 2006 a blessed year.