To all the Mother's...may you have a restful day but remain vigilant in your watch...God bless you all... and thank you. 

Easter Blessings to all our GT Lime Families and Friends...Have a safe a joyous Holiday....

Happy Chinese New Year to all our GT Lime Family and Friends......

The transcript of the President’s speech at the Vermont Baptist Church in Washington, DC in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King.  I listened to this speech on the internet and I concluded it was a powerful and appropriate speech so I am sharing.   Lengthy but worth reading. 

“THE PRESIDENT:  Good morning.  Praise be to God.  Let me begin by thanking the entire Vermont Avenue Baptist Church family for welcoming our family here today.  It feels like a family.  Thank you for making us feel that way.  (Applause.)  To Pastor Wheeler, first lady Wheeler, thank you so much for welcoming us here today.  Congratulations on Jordan Denice -- aka Cornelia.  (Laughter.)

Michelle and I have been blessed with a new nephew this year as well -- Austin Lucas Robinson.  (Applause.)  So maybe at the appropriate time we can make introductions.  (Laughter.)  Now, if Jordan's father is like me, then that will be in about 30 years. (Laughter.)  That is a great blessing.

Michelle and Malia and Sasha and I are thrilled to be here today.  And I know that sometimes you have to go through a little fuss to have me as a guest speaker.  (Laughter.)  So let me apologize in advance for all the fuss.

We gather here, on a Sabbath, during a time of profound difficulty for our nation and for our world.  In such a time, it soothes the soul to seek out the Divine in a spirit of prayer; to seek solace among a community of believers.  But we are not here just to ask the Lord for His blessing.  We aren't here just to interpret His Scripture.  We're also here to call on the memory of one of His noble servants, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now, it's fitting that we do so here, within the four walls of Vermont Avenue Baptist Church -- here, in a church that rose like the phoenix from the ashes of the civil war; here in a church formed by freed slaves, whose founding pastor had worn the union blue; here in a church from whose pews congregants set out for marches and from whom choir anthems of freedom were heard; from whose sanctuary King himself would sermonize from time to time.

One of those times was Thursday, December 6, 1956.  Pastor, you said you were a little older than me, so were you around at that point?  (Laughter.)  You were three years old -- okay.  (Laughter.)  I wasn’t born yet.  (Laughter.)
 
On Thursday, December 6, 1956.  And before Dr. King had pointed us to the mountaintop, before he told us about his dream in front of the Lincoln Memorial, King came here, as a 27-year-old preacher, to speak on what he called "The Challenge of a New Age."  "The Challenge of a New Age."  It was a period of triumph, but also uncertainty, for Dr. King and his followers -- because just weeks earlier, the Supreme Court had ordered the desegregation of Montgomery's buses, a hard-wrought, hard-fought victory that would put an end to the 381-day historic boycott down in Montgomery, Alabama.

And yet, as Dr. King rose to take that pulpit, the future still seemed daunting.  It wasn't clear what would come next for the movement that Dr. King led.  It wasn't clear how we were going to reach the Promised Land.  Because segregation was still rife; lynchings still a fact.  Yes, the Supreme Court had ruled not only on the Montgomery buses, but also on Brown v. Board of Education.  And yet that ruling was defied throughout the South  -- by schools and by states; they ignored it with impunity.  And here in the nation's capital, the federal government had yet to fully align itself with the laws on its books and the ideals of its founding. 

So it's not hard for us, then, to imagine that moment.  We can imagine folks coming to this church, happy about the boycott being over.  We can also imagine them, though, coming here concerned about their future, sometimes second-guessing strategy, maybe fighting off some creeping doubts, perhaps despairing about whether the movement in which they had placed so many of their hopes -- a movement in which they believed so deeply -- could actually deliver on its promise.

So here we are, more than half a century later, once again facing the challenges of a new age.  Here we are, once more marching toward an unknown future, what I call the Joshua generation to their Moses generation -- the great inheritors of progress paid for with sweat and blood, and sometimes life itself. 

We've inherited the progress of unjust laws that are now overturned.  We take for granted the progress of a ballot being available to anybody who wants to take the time to actually vote. We enjoy the fruits of prejudice and bigotry being lifted -- slowly, sometimes in fits and starts, but irrevocably -- from human hearts.  It's that progress that made it possible for me to be here today; for the good people of this country to elect an African American the 44th President of the United States of America.   

Reverend Wheeler mentioned the inauguration, last year's election.  You know, on the heels of that victory over a year ago, there were some who suggested that somehow we had entered into a post-racial America, all those problems would be solved.  There were those who argued that because I had spoke of a need for unity in this country that our nation was somehow entering into a period of post-partisanship.  That didn’t work out so well.  There was a hope shared by many that life would be better from the moment that I swore that oath.

Of course, as we meet here today, one year later, we know the promise of that moment has not yet been fully fulfilled.  Because of an era of greed and irresponsibility that sowed the seeds of its own demise, because of persistent economic troubles unaddressed through the generations, because of a banking crisis that brought the financial system to the brink of catastrophe, we are being tested -- in our own lives and as a nation -- as few have been tested before.

Unemployment is at its highest level in more than a quarter of a century.  Nowhere is it higher than the African American community.  Poverty is on the rise.  Home ownership is slipping. Beyond our shores, our sons and daughters are fighting two wars. Closer to home, our Haitian brothers and sisters are in desperate need.  Bruised, battered, many people are legitimately feeling doubt, even despair, about the future.  Like those who came to this church on that Thursday in 1956, folks are wondering, where do we go from here?

I understand those feelings.  I understand the frustration and sometimes anger that so many folks feel as they struggle to stay afloat.  I get letters from folks around the country every day; I read 10 a night out of the 40,000 that we receive.  And there are stories of hardship and desperation, in some cases, pleading for help:  I need a job.  I'm about to lose my home.  I don't have health care -- it's about to cause my family to be bankrupt.  Sometimes you get letters from children:  My mama or my daddy have lost their jobs, is there something you can do to help?  Ten letters like that a day we read.

So, yes, we're passing through a hard winter.  It's the hardest in some time.  But let's always remember that, as a people, the American people, we've weathered some hard winters before.  This country was founded during some harsh winters.  The fishermen, the laborers, the craftsmen who made camp at Valley Forge -- they weathered a hard winter.  The slaves and the freedmen who rode an underground railroad, seeking the light of justice under the cover of night -- they weathered a hard winter. The seamstress whose feet were tired, the pastor whose voice echoes through the ages -- they weathered some hard winters.  It was for them, as it is for us, difficult, in the dead of winter, to sometimes see spring coming.  They, too, sometimes felt their hopes deflate.  And yet, each season, the frost melts, the cold recedes, the sun reappears.  So it was for earlier generations and so it will be for us.

What we need to do is to just ask what lessons we can learn from those earlier generations about how they sustained themselves during those hard winters, how they persevered and prevailed.  Let us in this Joshua generation learn how that Moses generation overcame. 

Let me offer a few thoughts on this.  First and foremost, they did so by remaining firm in their resolve.  Despite being threatened by sniper fire or planted bombs, by shoving and punching and spitting and angry stares, they adhered to that sweet spirit of resistance, the principles of nonviolence that had accounted for their success.

Second, they understood that as much as our government and our political parties had betrayed them in the past -- as much as our nation itself had betrayed its own ideals -- government, if aligned with the interests of its people, can be -- and must be  -- a force for good.  So they stayed on the Justice Department.  They went into the courts.  They pressured Congress, they pressured their President.  They didn’t give up on this country. They didn’t give up on government.  They didn’t somehow say government was the problem; they said, we're going to change government, we're going to make it better.  Imperfect as it was, they continued to believe in the promise of democracy; in America's constant ability to remake itself, to perfect this union.

Third, our predecessors were never so consumed with theoretical debates that they couldn't see progress when it came. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when folks just don't want to see that even if we don't get everything, we're getting something.  (Applause.)  King understood that the desegregation of the Armed Forces didn’t end the civil rights movement, because black and white soldiers still couldn't sit together at the same lunch counter when they came home.  But he still insisted on the rightness of desegregating the Armed Forces.  That was a good first step -- even as he called for more.  He didn’t suggest that somehow by the signing of the Civil Rights that somehow all discrimination would end.  But he also didn’t think that we shouldn’t sign the Civil Rights Act because it hasn’t solved every problem.  Let's take a victory, he said, and then keep on marching.  Forward steps, large and small, were recognized for what they were -- which was progress.

Fourth, at the core of King's success was an appeal to conscience that touched hearts and opened minds, a commitment to universal ideals -- of freedom, of justice, of equality -- that spoke to all people, not just some people.  For King understood that without broad support, any movement for civil rights could not be sustained.  That's why he marched with the white auto worker in Detroit.  That's why he linked arm with the Mexican farm worker in California, and united people of all colors in the noble quest for freedom.

Of course, King overcame in other ways as well.  He remained strategically focused on gaining ground -- his eyes on the prize constantly -- understanding that change would not be easy, understand that change wouldn't come overnight, understanding that there would be setbacks and false starts along the way, but understanding, as he said in 1956, that "we can walk and never get weary, because we know there is a great camp meeting in the promised land of freedom and justice."

And it's because the Moses generation overcame that the trials we face today are very different from the ones that tested us in previous generations.  Even after the worst recession in generations, life in America is not even close to being as brutal as it was back then for so many.  That's the legacy of Dr. King and his movement.  That's our inheritance.  Having said that, let there be no doubt the challenges of our new age are serious in their own right, and we must face them as squarely as they faced the challenges they saw.

I know it's been a hard road we've traveled this year to rescue the economy, but the economy is growing again.  The job losses have finally slowed, and around the country, there's signs that businesses and families are beginning to rebound.  We are making progress.

I know it's been a hard road that we've traveled to reach this point on health reform.  I promise you I know.  (Laughter.) But under the legislation I will sign into law, insurance companies won't be able to drop you when you get sick, and more than 30 million people -- (applause) -- our fellow Americans will finally have insurance.  More than 30 million men and women and children, mothers and fathers, won't be worried about what might happen to them if they get sick.  This will be a victory not for Democrats; this will be a victory for dignity and decency, for our common humanity.  This will be a victory for the United States of America.

Let's work to change the political system, as imperfect as it is.  I know people can feel down about the way things are going sometimes here in Washington.  I know it's tempting to give up on the political process.  But we've put in place tougher rules on lobbying and ethics and transparency -- tougher rules than any administration in history.  It's not enough, but it's progress.  Progress is possible.  Don't give up on voting.  Don't give up on advocacy.  Don't give up on activism.  There are too many needs to be met, too much work to be done.  Like Dr. King said, "We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope."

Let us broaden our coalition, building a confederation not of liberals or conservatives, not of red states or blue states, but of all Americans who are hurting today, and searching for a better tomorrow.  The urgency of the hour demands that we make common cause with all of America's workers -- white, black, brown -- all of whom are being hammered by this recession, all of whom are yearning for that spring to come.  It demands that we reach out to those who've been left out in the cold even when the economy is good, even when we're not in recession -- the youth in the inner cities, the youth here in Washington, D.C., people in rural communities who haven't seen prosperity reach them for a very long time.  It demands that we fight discrimination, whatever form it may come.  That means we fight discrimination  against gays and lesbians, and we make common cause to reform our immigration system.
 
And finally, we have to recognize, as Dr. King did, that progress can't just come from without -- it also has to come from within.  And over the past year, for example, we've made meaningful improvements in the field of education.  I've got a terrific Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan.  He's been working hard with states and working hard with the D.C. school district, and we've insisted on reform, and we've insisted on accountability.  We we're putting in more money and we've provided more Pell Grants and more tuition tax credits and simpler financial aid forms.  We've done all that, but parents still need to parent.  (Applause.)  Kids still need to own up to their responsibilities.  We still have to set high expectations for our young people.  Folks can't simply look to government for all the answers without also looking inside themselves, inside their own homes, for some of the answers.

Progress will only come if we're willing to promote that ethic of hard work, a sense of responsibility, in our own lives. I'm not talking, by the way, just to the African American community.  Sometimes when I say these things people assme, well, he's just talking to black people about working hard.  No, no, no, no.  I'm talking to the American community.  Because somewhere along the way, we, as a nation, began to lose touch with some of our core values.  You know what I'm talking about.  We became enraptured with the false prophets who prophesized an easy path to success, paved with credit cards and home equity loans and get-rich-quick schemes, and the most important thing was to be a celebrity; it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you get on TV.  That's everybody.

We forgot what made the bus boycott a success; what made the civil rights movement a success; what made the United States of America a success -- that, in this country, there's no substitute for hard work, no substitute for a job well done, no substitute for being responsible stewards of God's blessings.

What we're called to do, then, is rebuild America from its foundation on up.  To reinvest in the essentials that we've neglected for too long -- like health care, like education, like a better energy policy, like basic infrastructure, like scientific research.  Our generation is called to buckle down and get back to basics.

We must do so not only for ourselves, but also for our children, and their children.  For Jordan and for Austin.  That's a sacrifice that falls on us to make.  It's a much smaller sacrifice than the Moses generation had to make, but it's still a sacrifice.  

Yes, it's hard to transition to a clean energy economy.  Sometimes it may be inconvenient, but it's a sacrifice that we have to make.  It's hard to be fiscally responsible when we have all these human needs, and we're inheriting enormous deficits and debt, but that's a sacrifice that we're going to have to make.  You know, it's easy, after a hard day's work, to just put your kid in front of the TV set -- you're tired, don't want to fuss with them -- instead of reading to them, but that's a sacrifice we must joyfully accept. 

Sometimes it's hard to be a good father and good mother. Sometimes it's hard to be a good neighbor, or a good citizen, to give up time in service of others, to give something of ourselves to a cause that's greater than ourselves -- as Michelle and I are urging folks to do tomorrow to honor and celebrate Dr. King.  But these are sacrifices that we are called to make.  These are sacrifices that our faith calls us to make.  Our faith in the future.  Our faith in America.  Our faith in God. 

And on his sermon all those years ago, Dr. King quoted a poet's verse:

Truth forever on the scaffold
Wrong forever on the throne…
And behind the dim unknown stands God
Within the shadows keeping watch above his own.

Even as Dr. King stood in this church, a victory in the past and uncertainty in the future, he trusted God.  He trusted that God would make a way.  A way for prayers to be answered.  A way for our union to be perfected.  A way for the arc of the moral universe, no matter how long, to slowly bend towards truth and bend towards freedom, to bend towards justice.  He had faith that God would make a way out of no way.

You know, folks ask me sometimes why I look so calm.  (Laughter.)  They say, all this stuff coming at you, how come you just seem calm?  And I have a confession to make here.  There are times where I'm not so calm.  (Laughter.)  Reggie Love knows.  My wife knows.  There are times when progress seems too slow.  There are times when the words that are spoken about me hurt.  There are times when the barbs sting.  There are times when it feels like all these efforts are for naught, and change is so painfully slow in coming, and I have to confront my own doubts. 

But let me tell you -- during those times it's faith that keeps me calm.  (Applause.)  It's faith that gives me peace.  The same faith that leads a single mother to work two jobs to put a roof over her head when she has doubts.  The same faith that keeps an unemployed father to keep on submitting job applications even after he's been rejected a hundred times.  The same faith that says to a teacher even if the first nine children she's teaching she can't reach, that that 10th one she's going to be able to reach.  The same faith that breaks the silence of an earthquake's wake with the sound of prayers and hymns sung by a Haitian community.  A faith in things not seen, in better days ahead, in Him who holds the future in the hollow of His hand.  A faith that lets us mount up on wings like eagles; lets us run and not be weary; lets us walk and not faint.

So let us hold fast to that faith, as Joshua held fast to the faith of his fathers, and together, we shall overcome the challenges of a new age.  (Applause.)  Together, we shall seize the promise of this moment.  Together, we shall make a way through winter, and we're going to welcome the spring.  Through God all things are possible.  (Applause.)

May the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King continue to inspire us and ennoble our world and all who inhabit it.  And may God bless the United States of America.  Thank you very much, everybody.  God bless you.  (Applause.)

END
12:30 P.M. EST

To all our GT lime freinds and familes ,I wish you Happiness and Joy...And all the Blessings for the New Year. I wish you the best of everything that you all so well deserve.

A happy and prosperous New Year to all,

Mark

Wishing our GTLime Friends and Family a very Merry Christmas..enjoy this version of an original Guyanese Christmas Song...HAPPY HOLIDAY...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12nZzo6X6qA&feature=email

We would like to wish our GTLime family and Friends a safe and Happy Thanksgiving

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May we all take a minute during our busy day and pay tribute to the brave souls who have sacrificed so much for us.....our thoughts and prayers to our soldiers especially those in current duty....

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 Have a safe and happy holiday Canada............GT Lime Admin

Happy 4th of July to all GT lime members , friends and familes everywhere..

Peace and love

Wishing all our Canadian GT Lime Family a very Happy and Safe Canada Day...........GT Lime Admin

A very Happy Mother's Day ....to all you special ladies..."God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers." ....GTLime Admin

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Easter.... looking forward to the 'kite flying' stories.......

We would like to wish our Hindu families and friends a very Happy Holi Celebration.

The Significance of Phagwah

By Parmanand Sukhu

Phagwah is one of the most ancient, joyous and colourful festivals of the Hindu calendar. This festival was brought down from India in 1838, by Indian Indentured Immigrants.
Phagwah or Holi is celebrated in Basant Ritu or Spring Season. This season commenced in Basant Panchmi in the Hindu month of Phalgun when a Castor Tree is planted symbolizing Holika. This festival is traced to the golden age of Satyug. Hola means grains and Holi is derived from the word Hola.
Holi is celebrated forty days from the planting of the Holika (castor oil tree). The burning of Holika takes place on the eve of Phagwah (full moon night). A huge structure (pyre) is built and kindled at the appropriate time in a symbolic act. Phagwah commemorates the New Year for Hindus.
Phagwah started at a time when India was facing a serious drought, affecting the various crops.  However, the rains eventually came pouring down to the satisfaction of the people (farmers) who came out in the fields playing the water in joyous jubilation as they threw it on each other. Soon after, they started reaping their bountiful harvest.There are special forms of music and songs which are associated with Phagwah. Chowtaal singing is the dominant style, which is heard from Basant Panchmi night until eight days after Phagwah.
Holi was celebrated before the Prahalad’s legend. However, the story of Prahalad added new dimensions. Prahalad’s defiance of the many impositions of his father King Hiranyakasyapu is testimony and evidence of firm faith in truth and God. The burning of Holika (Prahalad’s Aunt) is reminiscent of his victory over evil. King Kasyapu contrived various diabolical means to kill his son Prahalad who went against his will but all his efforts were in vain.
King Hiranyakasyapu  had a blessing (boon) that he could not be die in the day or night, nor inside or outside his house nor would he be killed by man or beast.
So he felt that he was god and proclaimed that all worship must be henceforth given to him.
Soon after the Lord Vishnu came in the awful form of Narsingh (half man and half lion) at twilight (neither day nor night). Lord Vishnu brought to an end the tyranny, arrogance and atrocity of the evil King (Hiranyakasyapu) in the center of the doorway (neither inside nor outside of the house).
Holi in all embracing has a historic meaning with a strong social content, which caters for reunion, social exchanges, greetings and visits. It also provides for spiritual communion and economic assessment so that the New Year can experience the emergence of a world free from want and poverty and full of justice and goodwill.
‘When winter is over and nature rejoices, it is the time for us to bring out the abeer, abrack, powder, perfume, beat the drums, sound the jhaal, sing and dance for it is harvest time. The spring crop is reaped and everyone is in a happy mood, bubbling with enthusiasm and in joyous jubilation as they celebrate.
The coloured water/powder symbolizes the unique floral beauty of spring, and the vanishing of hatred, feelings of jealousy and enmity, and bringing into the community a feeling of togetherness. This celebration sees all caste and class as one. The red does not represent anyone’s blood.
Let us celebrate Holi in the true spirit of friendship, joy, merriment and love. “Let noble thoughts and actions be your guide and the fragrance of Bassant
rejuvenate your life”.

We honour and remember our Veterans and all the soldiers who are away from their families defending this great country.

http://www.bryanmaxx.netfirms.com:80/diwali2008.htm

TO OUR GTLIME FAMILY & FRIENDS

GTLIME ADMIN

To all our Canadian Members, Family and Friends, we would like to wish you all a very Safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

GTLIME  ADMIN

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These pictures were taken by Michael Noelma’s son of the Palm Sunday Mass and procession in Georgetown. They gathered at The Cathedral and proceeded to GCC grounds, across from Fatima Church, for the Mass. This was done because of the shortage of priests in Guyana..

Click link below

http://community.webshots.com/album/562808184bGaQdv?vhost=community

Picture link and comments below are from Godfrey Chin's  Nostalgia 382.. Happy Easter to all

Four days holiday - sandwiched between Good Friday and Easter Monday makes this Holiday second only to Christmas in the 'homeland'. The phenomena of Easter kite flying is unique - and the traditions of 'fish only on Good Friday - High Mass - Cross Buns - the Bartica Regatta - Rodeo at Lethem and horse racing at Port Mourant make Easter a memorable occasion for young and old.

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Happy Easter Weekend to the GT Lime members and friends

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We would like to wish a Happy Valentine's Day to all our GT lime members and families

True Love

True love is a sacred flame
That burns eternally,
And none can dim its special glow
Or change its destiny.
True love speaks in tender tones
And hears with gentle ear,
True love gives with open heart
And true love conquers fear.
True love makes no harsh demands
It neither rules nor binds,
And true love holds with gentle hands
The hearts that it entwines.

~ Anonymous

GT ADMIN

Mark, Lauren - who said miracles can't happen. Thank you, thank you.. 

As we enjoy the fun, food and give thanks for all that we have please keep our soldiers and their families in your thoughts and prayers; and please be safe whatever your plans.

 As Thanksgiving Day rolls around,
It brings up some facts, quite profound.
We may think that we're poor,
Feel like bums, insecure,
But in truth, our riches astound.

 We have friends and family we love;
We have guidance from heaven above.
We have so much more
Than they sell in a store,
We're wealthy, when push comes to shove.

 So add up your blessings, I say;
Make Thanksgiving last more than a day.
Enjoy what you've got;
Realize it's a lot,
And you'll make all your cares go away.

 By Karl Fuchs

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

Liet. -Col. John McCrae

HAPPY VETERAN'S DAY

In 1918, after four years of bitter war, an armistice between the Allied powers and Germany went into effect, bringing the fighting of World War I to a close. Today, we celebrate the anniversary of that cessation as Veterans Day.  Over 1.5 million veterans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan so far,
and every one of them volunteered to serve.  Tom Lynch was noted to have said: "Perhaps never before in American history have so few done so much for so long."

Veterans Day is not about debating the wars or partisan politics. It is about the men and women who have served in our armed forces, and they deserve our gratitude.  So please, take time this weekend or Monday to show your support for the men and women who have bravely served our country.