Willingness to sacrifice

Jul 21, 2021 Editorial

Kaieteur News – We begin our observation and celebration of the national holiday of Eid-ul-Adha, by extending fraternal greetings to our Muslim brothers and sisters. In addition, since our own Head of State, His Excellency, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, is Muslim, our greetings go out to him and his family, too. The same is shared with our Muslim advertisers and readers, and with all Guyanese, regardless of religious beliefs. On this day, revered by Jews and Christians and Muslims alike, so many things come to mind, and touch the spirit. They stir to sharing our way of thinking of what this feast and festival involve.
In the tiniest of fingernail sketches, Eid-ul-Adha is of sacrifice. It is one man’s (Abraham) willingness to give up in sacrifice what came late in life to him, what came to mean so much for his posterity, and place of honour among the nations. When Abraham was ready and willing to give up in sacrifice his only son, Isaac, there is no comparison, there are no equivalents. It is of what faith and devotion and trust all are, in the grand flow of a soaring instance of great self-sacrifice that still rings around the world today, as it comes down to us through the ages. We cherish it, and one does not need to be a Muslim, or even religious, to hold it so precious. For it is of the things that we, as men and women, can do, when we have the strength of grace, when we are willing to give it our all, because we believe immovably that God in His mercy will provide. That Almighty God will look out and care for us, even if by the standards and reckoning of mortal men we fall or fail.
What counts with that unseen, mysterious spiritual force in which so many vest so much, is that we were, and we are, willing to make true and clean sacrifice in the crucibles of test, no matter how demanding, and however draining. According to scripture held sacred by billions, God gave Abraham one son, Isaac, and which ‘He’ then called upon him to give up, by his own hand, what was the world to him. Abraham rose to the occasion and showed what he was made of, where his hopes and dreams climaxed and settled.
There are so many lessons for us Guyanese from the conduct of Abraham, the record of scripture, and the messages both hold out to us. We, too, have the world in our hands now, just like Abraham. How much they, our leaders, will be ready and willing to sacrifice, so that all the children of Guyana will and can get their rightful share. We at this paper return to and single out for special mention Guyana’s President Ali. We remind him in the simplest and gentlest of terms of how Abraham was, and what his willingness to sacrifice what was most precious to him meant. We appreciate fully that our words of appeal to President Ali may fall on deaf ears and a heart of stone. However, we will take comfort that like Abraham, we have done our part and will keep on doing so come what may. Of that, the president can rest assured. Happy Eid to all!

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