At its core, the story of the birth of Jesus Christ is about a baby born in the humble circumstances of a manger, where cows and sheep sleep, and the impact that one of his principal messages, 'Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you' has had for more than two millennia.
As the population of T&T joins others around the world in celebrating Christmas Day today, the humility of the birth of Jesus ought to trigger reflection about the many acts of kindness that indicate this country has not descended completely into a barbarous state of incivility.
One example of an act of kindness that the T&T Guardian highlighted in its lead story on Friday is the contribution of Ronald Bhola, a consultant ophthalmologist, and his team of medical practitioners, who performed cataract surgery on 25 patients on Thursday.
Cataract surgery is one medical procedure in this country for which the demand for the service far exceeds the supply of it at public hospitals. This means that there are waiting periods that can last for years to have the surgery done at a public hospital, where the procedure would be free.
As was hinted at by Dr Bhola in the story, these long queues for the surgery have meant that those who can afford to have the procedure done at private institutions do so, and those who cannot afford are made to suffer in silence.
As he told the newspaper: "I have seen, and continue to see, a number of persons struggling with everyday life, disabled to live independently because of visual impairments. Most cannot afford to pay for the surgery which they need...it is tremendously disheartening."
Given the structure and current inadequacies of the local healthcare system, it would be appropriate for other medical professionals to consider giving back to their communities in the way that this group has done and is doing.
There is little doubt that T&T affords many medical doctors a quality of life that can be very rewarding materially. This country would be a much better place if other doctors followed the lead established by Dr Bhola and his group and sacrificed one or two days of income a year to help improve the quality of life of those who are less endowed with the means to immediately help themselves.
The same is true of other professionals, such as lawyers, accountants, engineers, even teachers and nurses.
It would be quite appropriate if some arm of the government, in collaboration with a national non-governmental organisation, were to organise willing professionals to make primary healthcare, legal and other interventions on a regular basis into some of the so-called 'hot-spot' communities around the country.
Such an intervention–which may be viewed initially with some level of scepticism because similar efforts in the past have been highly policitised–could be set up as one aspect of a multi-pronged approach to fight the scourge of crime in T&T.
Philanthrophy, which is the act of seeking to promote the welfare of others by the donation of time or money to good causes, is not only something that Guardian Media preaches, it is also practised by this company.
On Wednesday, the company handed over a cheque for more than $91,000 to the T&T Cancer Society, which resulted from proceeds of the sale of the T&T Guardian's special October 26 pink edition.