It would be equally naive and disingenuous to proclaim that this is a time for healing in Bermuda. With Christmas falling so soon after the “Pepper Spray Protests”, and our police and politicians in government walking on eggshells, it would take some wishful thinking to believe that we would let bygones be bygones and wish peace to all mankind in the spirit of the season.

Nothing of the sort can happen before February 3, 2017, when the One Bermuda Alliance government resumes plans to see the airport legislation through — and one or two other important pieces of legislation.

Apart from the Bermuda Airport Authority Act 2016 and the Airport Redevelopment Concession Act 2016, the delivery of which will further test the powers of persuasion of finance minister Bob Richards, there are 15 other first and second readings of Acts and amendments that our elected leaders have to tackle when belatedly they return to the Hill. That is how far behind they are in their work.

Now that we have had so many opinions and definitions of what is “peaceful protest”, we should finally be able to get it right so that the inevitable protesters on that Friday can have their say, but not at the expense of the country’s business being moved forward.

It would be wrong to suggest that pepper spray, “riot gear”, injured police officers and “there are people with ammunition; they may come here; they will shoot” should be consigned to the past.

“No, no, no,” as the dearly departed editor of this parish would say.

They should be a part of our present until a full and thorough investigation is completed. There is no hiding from that.

But in the fullness of time and, it must be added, not to the detriment of Members of Parliament doing the jobs for which they are paid handsomely — from $56,000 annually for backbenchers in the House to a smidgin south of $157,000 for full-time ministers.

Good work when you can get it; or, in this case, when you can force your way through the gates to be put officially on the clock.

So the honest conversation for this holiday season starts by accepting the upcoming four-day break for what it is:

• A time for those of faith to give praise

• A time for those who have no faith to find something to believe in so that they may find peace

• A time for family and friends to “break bread” together

• A time for our children to be held up in hope and adoration

• A time to be gracious and mindful of those less fortunate

• A long weekend to rival Cup Match

So while we must wait to make the country whole again, maybe we can use this time to recover some of the lost virtues of family, discipline and responsibility.

It is with that in mind that we should look to bring in 2017 fully loaded with those who got us there.

In ritual fashion, the Bermuda Police Service, the Road Safety Council and Cada trotted out their annual joint message yesterday about the perils of overindulgence during the holiday season. These messages often go unheeded, and it is no secret that our roads are a right mess — literally and figuratively.

Driving habits are deplorable and not enough is being done to dissuade such practices as madcap speeding in and out of Hamilton, driving with one hand on the wheel and the other on the phone, texting and driving, looking down between your legs when what is more pertinent is ahead through the windscreen or in the rear-view mirror.

And the latest fad, texting while hanging off the back of a bike as pillion passenger, carelessly oblivious to the rider making reckless and dangerous decisions on your behalf — and that of your unsuspecting family.

Eleven road deaths is nothing to be proud of for a supposedly civilised society. In fact, it is beyond careless.

Too many motorists with a Superman complex and a wilful disregard for history — 128 road deaths in 11 years, knock on wood, is a staggering number for a place this size, given the composition of our road network.

The frequency of blind corners alone invites a thought process to give pause to any sensible motorist; accent on “sensible”.

Rather, the rising fatality count, not to mention the revolving door that is the hospital’s intensive care unit and the minute-by-minute close calls for which there are no statistics, speaks to a collective intelligence deficit that stops blood flowing to the brain long before the embalmer is called into action, as inevitably he must be.

If indeed we are to heal, then please let this be the starting point. Let’s keep our citizens safe by respecting the roads and their propensity for causing grave harm when skin and bones intrude on their premises.

The rest will have to wait until after February 3, 2017, when Parliament Street again takes on amphitheatre status.

Merry Christmas.