By Frank Obonyo
Recently when I travelled back to my ancestral home in Tororo district, I scheduled a meeting with my community to discuss an upcoming water project.
However, the folks in my village declined to meet us in the morning because they had to first attend Easter service.
I fully understand why my kinsmen chose to prioritise Easter celebration to our early morning meeting.
They wanted to worship God, and perhaps to some, this was a golden opportunity to attend Church.
But what is the importance and significance of Easter, and why should we celebrate it always?
Easter denotes fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament and the revelation of God’s grand plan for mankind.
It displays hope beyond affliction; the moment that Jesus Christ topped His purpose of coming on Earth.
It is a time that we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the true meaning of Easter.
My disappointment
However, people have taken the celebration of Christ’s death and resurrection in different flair.
I watched on television when people put up orgies, dancing indiscriminately, not to Christ but to their own passion and obsession.
I am simply wondering if Christ visited these excessive drinking parties, would He say; “yes, to my satisfaction, my children are celebrating the reason I died and rose again”?
This kind of wild behavior is not only a town thing. In Per-Per village where I come from, it is now an acceptable norm for local leaders to stage music shows and children as young as four years stay at the local trading centres from 4pm to 12am.
Loud speakers are placed in different locations and multitudes groove to the music. The crowd has a life of its own. It is wild, drunk and packed like luggage on a lorry.
The adolescents love the vibe and they move like sellers and buyers, from one point to another.
Every person in the crowd moves as if they are possessed by a strange spirit.
Sure, there must be thieves also in the rough. But what sort of Easter celebration have we adopted?
I guess Christ would wonder if truly this is the salt and the light that He wants us to be!
We can do better
When I was growing up, Easter was celebrated with special Church hymns, services, flowers, drum beats, and mysterious Church bell echoes from the nearby Roman Catholic Church mission.
But the norm has changed, and I still think we can do better for Christ.
Finally, Easter is not a one-time event, but a daily life that we should live.
When Jesus died and rose again, He meant a new life; one of holiness, obedience, love, forgiveness, salvation. We are no longer ruled by sin.
By becoming atonement for sin, He gave us His perfect righteousness and eternal inheritance. We need to celebrate Easter His way!
The writer is a communication manager, Uganda Christian University
frankobonyo5@gmail.com
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