Dear Editor,
Let’s build our bridge of hope this Easter. The Easter message says “Yes we Can!” There can be redemption and renewal! We can find our way out of the pandemic, though it will take time and patience. We could value each other as human beings made in the likeness of God and help the less fortunate. We could collaborate with the NGO sector to ensure that help reaches those in need. We can mobilise to change systemic issues that distort our society.
The more troubling problem is not the medical challenge of keeping people safe and alive; it is how do we ensure that the majority of Guyanese can live a decent life—that they have food on the table; a job or business that can sustain themselves and their families; that they are not put out on the streets because they can’t pay the rent or mortgage; that we do not create another lost generation of children because they did not have access to online classes or whose parents were unable to assist/supervise them.
Easter is of course the most important event on the Christian calendar as it speaks to the very essence of the Christian faith—that Jesus Christ died on the cross and on the third day He rose from the dead. The significance of this is that Jesus’ death represents the sacrifices that God’s Son made for humanity; while the resurrection points us to new life.
Easter 2021 continues to meet us “on our knees”, humbled by a virus that has cat spraddled us. One day we were invincible, or so we thought and behaved. The next day, racked with physical and emotional pain, our voices curdled in our throats.
Our hearts fail us for fear. We are anxious, confused and grieving. Plagues, even though increasingly common, always find us unprepared. Our minds race back and forth as we long for some semblance of normality.
The most important thing is not to set our hearts on false hopes—be they couched in lying tales or conspiracy theories. Those are dead-end streets, cruel jokes played on the unsuspecting.
The purveyors of these stories are themselves seeking answers and desiring to regain predictable normality. They seek to rationalise what is happening, but you cannot build a better future with a lie. Therefore, be wary of those who peddle gloom and doom and offer little beyond a call for repentance. We live in a broken, messy society. A virus, without moral attributes, should be expected. To argue this position is to ignore that God never gave Job an answer in His long and direct conversation with him about why suffering and pain are part of our existence. God made no attempt to justify this. He only convinced Job of His sovereignty.
We, therefore, should not look for easy answers when our turn for pain comes. Most times, there are no real easy answers
The question, in the light of the impending outcomes, then is: what do we owe each other? Are we, who are more fortunate and who can isolate ourselves via our Zoom platform, social bubbles, and remote activities, going to round down the risks to zero, forgetting that those risks add up to a monumental one for the less fortunate? With this mindset, how will the Ministry of Health and other assorted agencies seek a long-term solution?
Sincerely,
David Adams
