Friday Sage Signs Off for Holidays
In his final Friday Sage column for the season, the columnist reflects on global holiday traditions, a turbulent 2025 and local milestones including the BVI's first budget above half a billion dollars. He thanks readers for engagement, urges ongoing debate about education and the future, and extends holiday wishes to all.
After weeks of reflection and commentary, the writer behind The Friday Sage has laid down his pen, offering a seasonal farewell that mixes gratitude, caution and hope for residents of the British Virgin Islands. The column opens by acknowledging the many ways the world marks this time of year — from Kwanza and Hanukkah to Eid and the Lantern Festival — and notes that for Christians the season recalls the birth of the Christ child.
The piece reminds readers that amid celebrations many are also coping with illness, grief and mental-health struggles, and extends wishes of strength and peace to all families across the Territory. Turning to the wider year, the columnist observes that 2025 closed very differently than it began: conflicts continued, environmental disasters struck — with a particular mention of Jamaica — and technological change accelerated.
Artificial intelligence, he writes, has become an enduring reality, bringing both opportunities and challenges that will touch the BVI’s workforce and service sectors. On the domestic front, the column highlights a key development for local governance: for the first time the BVI is working with a budget that exceeds half a billion dollars.
The writer praises a structured presentation by the Education Minister during the budget debate and invokes the late H. Lavity Stoutt’s oft-quoted warning: “If you think the price of education is high, try ignorance.” He stresses that while the headline figure is historic, the underpinning revenues are complex and the debate over priorities must continue.
The writer thanks readers for their engagement over the weeks — for comments, corrections and criticisms — and says his intention was to provoke debate rather than seek easy consensus. He asks pointed questions relevant to every Virgin Islander: Are we safer now than a year ago? Are we leaving our children with as much promise as we received?
Closing on a note of goodwill, the columnist quotes St. John and extends warm holiday wishes: “Beloved, above all things, we wish that you will prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospereth.” He ends by wishing readers happy holidays and better Fridays ahead as the Territory looks to the new year.
Primary source: Guavaberry