adminPublic holidays are popular in that they provide workers with an opportunity to relax and spend some time with their families. As a result they are a favourite for many. To see just how popular public holidays are, one needed to just pass through town this week. From as early as Monday the holiday fever had already set in. People, fresh from getting their salaries, could be seen rushing around doing their shopping ahead of the long weekend.
So it is not amiss to imagine that some wild parties have been planned for today, tomorrow and even Monday. That is the way of the people. When it is a long weekend, people just get into a party mood. I know I do.
There is also this thing of wanting to be around other people when there is a holiday. As a result there is a lot of calling each other up and getting together.
This is the time when cousins visit fellow cousins and in laws and grandparents have a full house as everyone gravitates towards other human beings. It is just the way it is.
And there is nothing wrong with that.
However, there may be need to look at what some of these holidays we religiously commemorate every year truly mean. I will always remember a sermon by one of my pastors during last year’s Easter holiday. Standing up to preach in front of a smaller crowd than usual, he asked congregants who were sitting at the back to move closer to the front.
People have this tendency of sitting in exactly the same spot at church and if those who normally sit in front at church do not come to church, what usually happens is that the front of the church will be empty.
Upon asking why the church was not as full as usual and being told by the whole group in a chorus that they were on holiday, the pastor said “well, shame on those who think this particular holiday is for merry making.
Those who play with this holiday, play with fire. That is why some do not come back from their merry making trips,” he said, to the shock and trembling of many of us.
I trembled because I was used to having the Pastor speak so nicely and with a reassuring tone all the time. This time he sounded so tough, threatening and uncompromising. He was an angry man. However, as he went on with the service, I began to understand a little bit of his anger.
The story he shared was of a man, who at 33, lost or rather gave up his life so that human kind could be saved. The story he told was of the only man who walked the earth who was perfect, who put everyone else before himself even when he knew that the fate that awaited him was of a terrible kind.
The Pastor during that Easter Sunday service spoke about the Last Supper and garden of Gethsemane and all the praying and fasting that took place ahead of the crucifixion. And then he asked whether it would be too much to ask for those whose lives he saved by losing his, to take some time to pray and reflect on the love shown by the Lord for mankind through this divine act of selflessness, the act that gives those of us who believe redemption.
As he spoke bits of a hymn played in my ears and mind, straight from many years ago when I was in high school . . . ”because he lives, I can face tomorrow, because he lives all my fear is gone, because I know he has my future and life is worth living just because he lives.”
And yet another: “You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross, my debts are paid,, from the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky, Lord I lift your name on high.”
As he went on I tried to think of someone who would willingly lose their life so as to save mine. As he spoke I tried to think of someone who would take care of another person’s debt and I realized there were very few if any.
Then the Pastor’s fury made sense. He was let down by a people that had ceased to care, a people that could not understand just what the significance of Easter was and still is and will always be. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with having a good time, in my book during this long weekend, the plea is for human kind not to ever forget what Easter signifies.
Christians from different churches have been building up towards this day in different ways, from fasting and praying, to devotionals, worshipping and mass, but the buildup has been there and it is commendable. While not forcing anyone to do what they do not want to do, or what they do not believe in, my plea is that those who can take some time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice that God through giving up his son, and Jesus Christ himself by obeying the father’s will, made.
When that is done, I am sure we will find some time, during our relaxing and partying to reflect, introspect and pray. I am sure we will find some time as others have done before us, (I have seen reports about those who are offering free medical checkups and handing out food during this season) to perform an act of goodness as a way of appreciating the ultimate gift of life we receive upon acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. I am sure we will find time to be alone and worship as we should worship because this is what this time is truly about.
Even from that beach house, house boat, hotel room, chalet or camp, let us not forget what this season is truly about.
Or we may anger the Father who loves us so. As much as he is full of grace and love, we need to do our bit too. And this would not be a bad time to use those knees.
Have a blessed Easter and make a difference in someone’s life.
Online Reporter