The end of 2017 finds us all in a different kind of world, one less predictable and certain, one which is awash with fear and division. The nation is divided over trivial issues such as political choices and its economic achievements are threatened by uncertainties.
When a nation ignores the cries of its poor, closes its eyes to the tears of the oppressed, when religious men who are expected to lead the way become venerated on earth, demanding to be worshiped, when we become vultures and scavenge for even the little that a widow keeps, when we tell all sorts of lies, and prefer heaps of praise instead of the corrective rod of God, when civil service becomes an avenue of corruption and stealing, when little children and women have no security and are in fear of being raped and abused, as has happened in Wakiso District this passing year, this tells us that our values are in the wrong place.
This year has indeed revealed the glaring selfish and greedy beings we truly are, with emphasis on things that do not matter, and total neglect of the things that are of eternal value. It is as if we are in the midst of a creepy darkness revealed by senseless violence, economic hard times, political deadlocks, and spiritual coldness.
I am, however, excited that God has spoken to us according to Exodus 11:7 that 2018 will usher in a time of difference and that wickedness would not touch us in any way, not even in the form of a bark from a sneering dog! This is what we will share during the Passover Festival, the fact that we will be protected by divine power. We truly needed a word of positive, good news to give us hope and faith. It is this act of God’s unwavering love that gives meaning to life afresh.
As Christendom celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, sent by His Father, with a message of ‘good news’ into a world of darkness, we need to embrace that which heaven provides and live by it!
By Dr Joseph Serwadda.
