How Are You Spiritually Preparing to Prevent COVID19 Pandemic’s Spread?
As I have posted on WhatsApp on 10th April 2020, Good Friday is not ONLY about being inside the church. In the same way, Easter is not only about that too. What happened before, during and after the church is what rather tells whether you are really remembering the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This difficult time is a time that will also indirectly tests our faiths in our believes or religion. The social distancing strategy that has called for suspension of social gatherings and complete or partial lockdown (Graphic, 2020) in some countries, is a period for us to self-assess our spiritual lives and the impacts that they have on others. You can do this as you sacrifice by staying at home to save yourself and others.
This COVID19 Pandemic is already causing lot of fears and panics (Zoure, 2020; Graphic, 2020) in people globally. Meditating as we read through our Holy Books can help us withdraw from our past sinful ways or cope with this difficult period (Fig. A1) as revealed by some of my Facebook posts on 07.07.13; 21.09.14; 08.11.15; and 30.04.17. At this particular time people would want to hear something that will reduce their fears; and that is why psychologists are involved in our fight to prevent it as revealed in: “Ghana Psychological Association Lauds Isolated Patients” (Gyamfi, 2020) . The psychological problems associated with this infection and the fears or panics are what have resulted in some isolated (Citi-news., 2020) and quarantined (Dapaah, 2020) people trying to escape. This why some religious leaders who are adding more fears by referring the COVID19 as a “Death angel” purposely sent by God to eliminate sinners on earth (Brown, 2020) must desist from that.
Have a clean spiritual mentality by believing that COVID19 Pandemic is not a “Death Angel” (Brown, 2020) from God that is sent to come and kill all sinners. It is no respecter of person: whether you are a righteous or sinner, if you do not maintain social distance or practice the advices by experts, you can get it. All our major religions are faulty of this hilarious claim which has a negative impact on our collective efforts to contain this deadly obstacle of Global PEACE. Once people are made to believe that this cancer is a spiritual problem, most of them may be reluctant to comply with the lockdown orders or education to maintain social distance and habits that can help prevent it from spreading. This could be why despite the alarming cases and deaths; some people are still violating these rules to seek spiritual solution(s) in our churches (Mawutor, 2020; Opera.com., 2020) and mosques (Kindzeda, 2020) .
Disbanding religious activities to help maintain social distancing in order to prevent the continued spread of COVID19 is NOT a disbandment of your faith. It is not only being in the church or mosque that makes you a believer or a God-fearing, it is about your faiths/believes. You are not absent from church/mosque by your own will, but by circumstances! Remember to stay connected to your God as we remember the unbearable humiliation and pains that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ went through into victory because of you and I. Jesus did not die for Only Christians: he died and resurrected for the whole human kinds. All you need to do to benefit from his painful death and victorious resurrection, is to acknowledge him as the Son
of the Highest God Almighty and the Savior of your life.
of the Highest God Almighty and the Savior of your life.
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Practice the greatest commandment (Matthew 22:34-39, KJV) regularly as much as possible before, during, and after any religious activity. It is through love that you can be able tolerate others irrespective of their differences like religion, politics, race/tribe, profession/social status, and so on. There is no way that you can prove that you love God (Matthew 22:37-38, KJV) by remembering the resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, when you cannot genuinely love your neighbour (Matthew 22:39, KJV).
Ghana is one of the countries around the globe where there is an admirable and peaceful relationship between religious groups like Christians and Muslims (Abdul-Hamid, 2011) . The president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, also acknowledged this; speaking on the topic “Religious Tolerance” during the Eid-ul Fitri Prayer 2019, as he said: “We must continue to work to preserve our culture of Religious Tolerance” (Classfmonline.com., 2019; GTV., 2019) . Love all: Hate None as you remember the Victorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. But; to cope with this new change, get your own acronym for “LOCKDOWN” as seen (Fig A2). I wish all Christians a Happy Easter! Thank you for Reading!
NB: Written and First Posted on 12th April, 2020. Picture Edited and the Post Updated on 16th On 16th April, 2020.
References
Abdul-Hamid, M. (2011). CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM RELATIONS IN GHANA: A MODEL FOR WORLD DIALOGUE AND PEACE. . Ilorin Journal of Religious Studies. , Vol. 1, Issue 1. Retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/ijrs/article/view/90912 on 25.07.19 at 10:52PM.
Brown, L. (2020, 01 29). Evangelical pastor claims coronavirus is God’s ‘death angel’ to ‘purge a lot of sin’. Retrieved from nypost.com: https://nypost.com
Citi-news. (2020). N/R: COVID-19 patient who escaped still not found – Regional Minister. Government and Politics, Coronavirus., Retrieved from https://mynewsghana.net/n-r-covid-19-patient-who-escaped-still-not-found-regional-minister/ on 02.04.2020 at 10:03AM.
Classfmonline.com. (2019, May 6). General News Wed, 5 Jun 2019: Preserve Ghana’s religious tolerance culture – Akufo-Addo. General News, Retrieved on 31.07.19 at 1:14AM from https://mobile.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Preserve-Ghana-s-religious-tolerance-culture-Akufo-Addo-752331.
Dapaah, E. (2020). Four persons nearly lynched after entering Eastern Region from Accra to escape lockdown. General., Retrieved on 04.04.2020 around 8:16PM from https://citinewsroom.com/2020/04/four-persons-nearly-lynched-after-entering-eastern-region-from-accra-to-escape-lockdown/amp/.
Graphic, D. (2020). COVID-19: Fear Grips Residents In Volta Region As Lockdown Escapees Troop In. . Local News., Retrieved on 03.04.2020 around 1:17PM from https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/202004/404464.php.
GTV. (2019, June 5). President Akufo-Addo's Speech on Religious Tolerance During the 2019 Eid-ul Fitri Prayer at Black Star Square. . A Live Television Broadcast. . Accra, West Africa. , Ghana : Retrieved from GTV Live Broadcast of Eid-ul Fitri Program on 5th June 2019 at 10:45AM.
Gyamfi, A. A. (2020). COVID-19: "You Are Heroes Saving Ghanaians" - Ghana Psychological Association Lauds Isolated Patients. . General News., Retrieved from https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/local/news/202004/404593.php on 03.04.2020 at 6:54PM.
Kindzeda, M. E. (2020). Cameroonian Muslims Defy Coronavirus Prayer Restrictions. Coronavirus Outbreak., Retrieved on 30.03.2020 around 5:59PM from https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.voanews.com/science-health/coronavirus-outbreak/cameroonian-muslims-defy-coronavirus-prayer-restrictions%3famp.
KJV. (Matthew 22:34-39). The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV). . London. : Cambridge University Press.
Mawutor, F. (2020). Court charges Ghanaian pastor who went against Prez Nana Addo's order to hold a 'Coronavirus' church service. General News., Retrieved from https://www.celebritiesbuzz.com.gh/court-charges-ghanaian-pastor-who-went-against-prez-nana-addos-order-to-hold-a-coronavirus-church-service/?amp on 23.03.2020 at 7:27PM.
Opera.com. (2020). Pastor and church members arrested for having an Easter service on this lockdown. . Opera News Hub., Retrieved on 12.04.2020 at 9:50AM from https://news-af.feednews.com/news/detail/59514ad7031cb9bee0da25a0109ba4a3?client=news.
Zoure, S. (2020). Fear and panic hit Walewale after Coronavirus kills teenager. . New, Health., Retrieved from https://www.mynewsgh.com/fear-and-panic-hit-walewale-after-coronavirus-kills-teenager/amp/ on 12.04.2020 at 9:43AM.
