Easter, period of renewal, optimism

Easter has always been an exciting time for many Ghanaians, Christians and non-Christians alike.

The annual celebration, which is typically marked with well-attended church services that start on Good Friday, symbolically marks the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

It is the contention of Christians that through His death, burial and resurrection, Jesus paid the ultimate price for the sins of all those who believe in Him to have eternal life.

Over the years, across Ghana the solemn mood on Good Friday and Holy Saturday gives way to jubilation on Easter Sunday and fun on Monday, as holidaymakers take over the beaches and other social centres, while some churches organise picnics for their members.

This year’s celebrations were, however, on a low key, with the exception of some activities on the Kwahu Ridge and picnics in some parts of the country.

One unfortunate spectacle of the Easter was reckless driving.  The celebration witnessed a number of accidents in which nine people — three children and six adults — all members of the Meduma North Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Kumasi, died on Holy Saturday when the Sprinter Benz bus on which they were travelling was involved in an accident at Tano Odumase. 

Nineteen others who sustained various degrees of injury were rushed to nearby health facilities.

At Nsawam, four persons, including three children, also died, while 13 others sustained various degrees of injury in two separate accidents.

Even at the paragliding event on the Kwahu Ridge, a holidaymaker, out of fear, stalled in his movement and thwarted the efforts of his pilot, leading to a crash-landing. 

Fortunately, the event went on smoothly.

In all of this, the Daily Graphic would like to encourage all Ghanaians to focus on the real significance of Easter and think along the lines of nation-building, promoting unity in diversity, reconciliation and being one another’s keeper.

It would be recalled that members of the clergy had, in their Easter messages last Thursday, admonished Ghanians not to allow the commercialisation of the Easter season to redefine what  the celebration meant.

“We must put national interest above all others and strive for unity in all endeavours,” they had advised.

Undoubtedly, the nation is going through some challenges, ranging from economic difficulties to energy crisis, otherwise known as ‘dumsor dumsor’. 

 However, the Daily Graphic calls on Ghanaians to not despair but be optimistic and look forward with renewed hope and vigour in the execution of their daily endeavours.

After all, it is hard work, tenacity of purpose and the will to sacrifice a little in the interest of the nation that will see us through the challenges.

Above all, we expect leadership to lead by example by demonstrating to all that its admonition to the people to sacrifice for a better Ghana is not meant for the governed but the governors too.

In all of this, we must not lose sight of the supreme sacrifice Jesus Christ made on the Cross to save mankind. The few sacrifices we make as individuals and as a group will go a long way to make Ghana a better place to live.