Let the essence of Easter prevail

Tomorrow is Good Friday and Christians all over the world will mark the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The two events also signify mankind’s triumph over death.

Easter also teaches the essence of forgiveness and the need for all to have a forgiving heart because notwithstanding the pains that the Saviour endured on the cross, He asked God to forgive His persecutors, as they did not know what they were doing. 

Jesus’ death and resurrection reconciled us to God and our fellow human beings and so it behoves us to strive especially at reconciliation and focus on the values it brings to us – love and sacrifice for the common good. 

Easter gives us yet another opportunity for us to meditate over our lives, examine and rededicate ourselves and let the teachings of Christ take control of our lives. It is, therefore, important that as we mark the death of Jesus Christ, we do not over-indulge in any activities and lose focus of what the celebration stands for.

However, Easter is now more than a church-based festival, as the celebration has come to include all manner of social activities, especially over the weekend. These include family gatherings, durbars, reconciliation talks and programmes such as the paragliding fiesta on the Kwahu scarp in the Eastern Region. 

Certainly, we must guard against actions that will lead to unnecessary grief and rancour, as happen in periods of fire disasters and other man-made ones such as flooding and road accidents which take a heavy toll on the economy. 

It is the hope of The Mirror that motorists, as well as all other road users, will be on their best behaviour to make travelling on our roads less frightening and more enjoyable. We need everybody alive to contribute his or her quota to national development.

Ghana has come far in its democratic governance but The Mirror believes we still have a long way to go in this journey.   We are, therefore, enjoined to conduct our affairs within the confines of the Constitution we subscribe to. The media, in particular, ought to lead the way in promoting reconciliation and peaceful co-existence among all. 

The Mirror wishes to reiterate its appeal to all to resolve to allow the celebrations to offer a turning point in our bid to work hard, eschew indiscipline and expose the bad lot who have been a hindrance in our forward march to peace, unity and development, especially as we approach the general election in November.

According to Scripture, a house divided against itself cannot stand and so we must look at issues that unite us, instead of the things that divide us. Perhaps we need to stress that no development can take place without unity and respect for the views of others.

Many of the countries that are embroiled in civil war or unrest started with intolerant gestures which ended in chaos and anarchy. Political stability and the consequent relative peace in Ghana are assets which we must continue to cherish and guard.

The Mirror urges all to let the celebration strengthen us as a nation to strive to remain united, show love and be one another’s keeper. Certainly, we must eschew any acts that will impede the move to be the trailblazer to the rest of the continent, if not the whole world.

A Happy Easter to all our readers!