Spirit of Easter is about hope for our future

As you read this leader the country will be in a celebratory mood, engaging in family life, many South Africans travelling far and near to be with their loved ones, and this is what the spirit of Easter ought to be – to celebrate and feel good about ourselves.

For Christians, the holiday marks the hope of the Resurrection, a theological concept that depicts hope and renewal in places marred by darkness and hopelessness and physical and spiritual death.

We all, whether we identify with Christianity or not, identify with the kind of spirit theologically envisioned, not so much because we embrace religion but because our human experience is familiar with pain of hopelessness when things do not go well in any country, where we see millions of South Africans experience pangs of hopelessness as a result of poverty, joblessness and brewing political turmoil, with economic prospects dulled for many South Africans by the reality of not being able to support themselves and their loved ones because of a stagnating economy.

Also the reality of crime, as figures from various agencies tell us, is a depressing reality that we have to face day after day in a country where, at the beginning of our democracy in 1994, we heard our great hero, Nelson Mandela, tell us that we were headed for better days of a just society with great promise to all who were previously oppressed by the oppressive apartheid and colonialism systems of injustice.

We truly believed that El Dorado was about to set in, and that life would be better under a new system of constitutional democracy. If truth be told, there have been many gains accompanying the birth of a new country of plenty and of milk and honey.

Our sporting profile got better and better by the day. We won many accolades, and competed well with the outside world, marking our return to the world stage of sport by winning honours in rugby and soccer and athletics.

The world took notice of us, and we were respected, a momentary economic boom visited us, albeit for a short period.

As we celebrate Easter this weekend, and as we go merry-making, we must not stop to reflect on where we would want to be in the future, this year being an election year where stakes for all the country’s political parties are high, we need to pray harder for a better world, knowing as we do that, prayer by itself requires social, economic and political action, encapsulated in the words, ora et labora, which is to say as we pray, we should not forget to work harder at resolving our many challenges facing the country, including escalating economic meltdown, a factor that is keeping our people depressed with nothing to celebrate.

Lastly, it would be remiss of us not to sound a word of caution.

Our roads will be awash with thousands of vehicles travelling from all parts of the country. Our excitement should not overwhelm the need of safety for all road users.

We wish you an enjoyable Easter holiday. Be safe.