Death and resurrection-Diaspora Reflection

?O eloquent, just and mighty Death! Whom none could advise, thou has persuaded; what none dared, thou hast done? thou hast drawn together all the far stretched greatness, all the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it over with these two narrow Hic jacet!; by Sir Walter Raleigh in his History of the World; and this rang a high tone in my ears as I read about the shocking deaths of Ferdinand Ayim, Philip Sibeko of GNA, Mr Twum- one the best brain behind many TV adverts who died in another motor accident on Spintex road, boat disaster on Volta that claimed many lives the murdering of the soldier at Bortianor , and the arson in Yendi after the burial of the king. All these happened within one week.

I thought that was enough for us and Ghanaians were going to have peaceful Easter only to read of the mysterious suicide in the Christ Temple-?ICGC member commits suicide? as one of the many headlines on Good Friday.

Many of these people died in the line of their duties. Ferdinand died on duty, I still can feel the warmly handshake of Ferdinand in North America Airline on 23rd October 2005. I remember him weaving at me when we departed at JFK International Airport at New York; I still can hear his voice saying ?all the best and take good care of yourself?. Twum also died on duty as a husband going to visit his wife in a hospital. Others in the boat disaster were, one way or another, on duty while few were deportees and you can call it on-duty.

Nonetheless, one can?t tell whether Victor Acheampong popularly known as 'Kofi Papa' who committed suicide by hanging himself in the house of God was also on duty. GNA reported that the man was alleged to be a caretaker of a house of a man who lives outside the country and that he was alleged to be indebted to the house owner, who had just returned to Ghana, an amount of 40 million cedis. Did he hang himself because he owed 40m cedis? Was there any hidden problem which culminated into this action? On behalf of Ghanaians in Diaspora, let me register our heart-felt condolence to the families who lost their loved ones this period and let?s hope that we shall meet them in heaven.

But I have good news this morning. A young man who was hanged on a tree 2000 years ago has risen. In fact he rose two thousand years ago and he is still alive. The sun rose that Easter Sunday morning on an entirely different world than the one that had existed hours earlier. For most people, to be sure, it was the same. Birds twittered as they usually did in their pre-dawn revelry. Lazy dogs barked at the sound of the first early risers. In his penthouse in downtown Jerusalem, Pilate rolled over in bed and moaned at the mockingbird making a racket on his veranda. He could feel his wife?s stiffness next to him. He didn?t even have to look to see her wide, sleepless eyes locked on a crack in the ceiling for fear of the dreams that might come back if she closed them.

In the nearby barracks, a soldier snored on in thick oblivion. Soon his comrades would wake up to wicked hangovers, a usual Sunday morning experience. Things were always quiet on the Jewish Sabbath, so Saturdays became party time for the Roman soldiers.

Out in the courtyard, roosters crowed, and Peter, curled up next to a stone wall, was sure he heard every last one of them. He hadn?t been sleeping, either. All those great plans and dreams for himself and his nation had vanished with three denials and two rooster crows. Roosters had been rattling and cackling in his brain for two nights. They wouldn?t let him sleep, and they wouldn?t let him forget that look on the Saviour?s face that left him frozen in his betrayal.

On the edge of town, three women made their way quietly through abandoned narrow streets, clutching vials of sweet-smelling perfume. In the hazy light of early morning, they were headed for Joseph?s garden, where the remains of the man they pinned their hopes on as the Son of God laid without proper respect. There had been no time on Friday to anoint the funeral wrappings, and such activity was forbidden on the Sabbath. Nicodemus and Joseph had done a credible job with limited time and little preparation, but it fell to the women to complete the burial requirements ? as much for their own sake as for the sake of the custom.

Just when they started to wonder who might help them roll the huge stone over the face of the tomb, they found, lo and behold, that the stone had already been moved away. The soldiers guarding it shifted on the ground in a deep sleep; the wrappings that should have been around the body lay limply on the rocky shelf inside. And an angelic being, bright and glorious, asked a question that would change them and the world forever: ?Why do you seek the living among the dead?? He is alive and is with you as you are reading this and he is saying; ?Shalom?. Peace be with you this Sunday morning and be filled with the same joy and wonder these women experienced on that first Easter Sunday morning!