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Eid ul-Adha
Kaieteur News – Eid ul-Adha greetings to our Muslim brothers and sisters and to all Guyanese on this auspicious day. May that spirit of self-sacrifice grace your lives.
It is said that it is better to give than to receive, and Eid ul-Adha is exemplary in its representation of such activity, of such a value held dearly and consistently. We live in a time and a world plagued by selfishness and darkness to the point of impenetrability, so thick both are. It is such a season that the readiness to sacrifice by Abraham of his precious son Ismail takes on such extraordinary resonance, a gleam that reaches from the distant past to this day. It is about giving without counting the cost, giving in the confidence that Almighty God will provide. Such was the faith of Abraham, a man spoken of reverently in holy books. What God gives and is willingly given up, He can give still more than what is lost, in his magnificent replacements.
It is of man’s confidence in his Maker, and not too much in his own strength, or that of frail men like himself. When we trust in Our Creator, good inevitably follows, no matter how long such takes to materialise. Sacrifice is about good works, of thinking about, reaching towards, and giving of what we have so that others can have. Often, it is not much, but the truthfulness and sincerity in our heartsare what count before the Creator. For those who do not have, a little still goes a long way, is treasured for the timeliness of its appearance, the essence of its God-given nature.
We make a difference in the lives of those who are at a lower level than ourselves, live at a lesser state than we enjoy, sometimes even take for granted. Notwithstanding how much we may have, it is always good to remind ourselves to be humble, to remember the source of our blessings. It is in that spirit that our gifts and sacrifices are pleasing where it counts, in the realms of the divine, with the Holy One who sees everything, knows everything, and recognizes the genuineness in our offerings. They are not for show, or in observance of a special occasion. Rather they are about who we are, especially when we are away from the watchful eyes of an ever-vigilant public. The simplicity and sincerity in our sacrifices are what features highly with God, even when such may not be too well thought of by those who are our peers, and who make a spectacle of their giving.
We could use some real sacrifice in this country blessed with so much. The personal sacrifice that persuades us to remember the unquestioning manner of Abraham with what was most precious to him, what came so late in his life. In ordinary men, the first thought may be that since years are so advanced, then it would be all done, and that was the end of the line. It was not the way of Abraham, and there is a role model of extraordinary standing for us, one almost beyond compare, other than for the great prophets that came later.
If and when we can willingly and joyfully abandon our intense and self-destructive selfishness, then a fateful first step would have been taken. Without a second thought, without so much as a question, Abraham began his early morning journey to the mountain and what awaited -the command that he had just had to obey since he knew no other way. It is of the surrendering of the physical and the emotional to the dictates of the spiritual. A clean and wholesome spirit compel such unself-serving action. We are left breathless at the sheer magnitude of what sacrifice could actually mean.
It is readiness to give of life, in obedience to God’s commands, and faithfulness given immaculate expression. We have been given gifts here, and much is expected of us. To be true to our special election. To be respectful of our great responsibilities. To do our best to fulfill our duty in a way that glorifies God, and which lifts up our fellow men in constant honesty and quiet human dignity.
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