Some sensible people I know, like Salvu Mallia, have stopped taking part in political issues and appearing on TV. Others, like our Archbishop Charles Scicluna, have become more ‘prudent’.

To these people I say: come back, keep up the good fight and show your fiery spirits.

Otherwise, I get the deadening feeling expressed in the song American Pie by Don Maclean and in the Bible. Ezekiel saw God leaving the Temple: “Then the glory of the Lord departed from over the threshold of the temple and stopped above the cherubim. While I watched, the cherubim spread their wings and rose from the ground and, as they went, the wheels went with them” (Ezekiel 10).

A sure sign that we are being left desolate.

And in the song American Pie:

“And the three men I admire most

“The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost

“They caught the last train for the coast

“The day the music died.”

The day people stop discussing, protesting and airing their views is the day democracy dies.

Remember, even if you don’t see your words bear fruit, they are not in vain. The space you vacate will be filled by blabbering. Your contribution will fine-tune the agenda and maybe overturn it.