FROM today, the Christian community will usher in the five-day celebration of Easter, the season of sacrifice, forgiveness, reconciliation and unity. It was during that period, more than 2,000 years ago, that our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified to atone for the sins of mankind.
Indeed, as he hung on the cross in fulfilment of the Scriptures, Jesus Christ, even at that critical moment, interceded for His accusers and those who crucified Him, asking God to “forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing”. (Luke 23:34)
During the Easter season, Christians and even non-Christians participate in the festivities, either to renew their faith in God or their bond with the communities from where they come from. The occasion also offers the opportunity for interaction, exchange of ideas and the renewal of people’s allegiance to their faiths or roots.
To commemorate the occasion, some religious leaders in the country have called on Ghanaians to bury their differences and begin life as a united people with a common vision.
As they indicated, the vices of selfishness, disobedience, anger, evil desire, greed, corruption, as well as disrespect and intolerance, had taken root in our society.
Even as the focus on diversity, with little emphasis on common values and vision, tends to tear us apart, very little is being done by our temporal and spiritual leaders to bridge the gulf that clearly shows in our daily endeavours.
If it is not about a fight for the control of land or traditional authority, it is about disagreement between supporters of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the major opposition party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
It appears that the country is fighting an identity crisis because we do not see ourselves as one people with a common destiny.
There is a lot that we can gain if we begin to bind together as Ghanaians with a strong belief in our religious values which must manifest in love for one another, respect for authority and tolerance.
We pride ourselves as a great nation and beacon of hope for many countries on the continent because of the successes we have chalked up in nurturing democratic governance since 1993.
Unfortunately, we are unable to build on these achievements that other countries have exploited to break away from the shackles of poverty, disease and squalor.
The Daily Graphic encourages all Ghanaians to use this Easter holidays to break away from sin and negative tendencies and open a new chapter in which we will be one another’s keeper.
We also believe that we can put behind us the negative tendency of an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, develop a forgiving heart and, like Jesus Christ, forgive those who have sinned against us.
Indeed, when the Lord taught His disciples how to pray, He made it abundantly clear that our ability to receive forgiveness for our trespasses was contingent on our ability to forgive others who sinned against us. Yet, mankind appears to have turned a deaf ear to this important charge all these years.
As human beings, we have our frailties and shortcomings and, therefore, we cannot be perfect. That is why we should be ready to forgive one another in order to forge ahead in unity.
Far from asking that wrongs should be swept under the carpet, the Daily Graphic thinks that while the state apparatus deals swiftly with deviants in society, it is important to forge a bond of unity and friendship. This way, our collective endeavours will help to achieve better results in the country.
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