Posted: The Chronicle Wednesday, February 2, 2009
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
The feeling at the independence square, the venue for the National Prayer and Thanks Giving service yesterday gave a confirmation of the commitments of Ghanaians to bury their individual and collective differences to move the country forward in one accord in these times of global economic recession.
Speaker after speaker expressed concern about the level of acrimony and division that characterised the just-ended General elections and stressed the urgent need for all Ghanaians to adopt an attitudinal change that will help move the country forward.
Preaching the sermon, the Bolgatanga based Reverent Minister, Rev. Eastwood Anaba wondered why the Ghanaian society had become rife with intolerance.
He however foresaw a new kind of revolution coming to Ghana which surpasses the mere tenets of industrial, social or intellectual revolution but one that he called “spiritual revolution”.
In this kind of revolution, which he said is written in the constitution of the spirits of Ghanaians, Rev. Anaba noted that one did not require a Parliamentarian, lawyer or an intellectual to read and interpret but to do it with one’s own conscience.
“May the conscience of this nation and the conscience of our leaders evolve into that which is super-natural, may a super-natural change come upon this nation and seize us like the way an armed robber seizes an unsuspecting victim on the highway”, he prayed.
As a man of ‘Frafra’ origin who is married to a Kwahu woman, Reverend Anaba could not but use his family as an example of how people from various backgrounds and beliefs can co-exist without any acrimony whatsoever.
According to him, this has been made possible by the trend of love and understanding that lies between him and his wife and therefore charged all Ghanaians to take a queue from his example to help move the country forward in one accord.
For him, there can be no better time than this, stressing that this is the time for Ghana to move forward and had this to tell the President “Professor John Evans Atta Mills, what a moment and time you have in your hand, you hold in your hand, a nation at a time that many Presidents never had because at the time of unprecedented chaos, that is when you need a man to stand and we thank God that this is the man God has chosen for us through our prophetic thumb-print.”
Whilst he conceded that there are difficult times ahead, Rev. Anaba was optimistic of Ghana’s ability to lift itself from doldrums, emphasising “what a time so difficult a task and yet surmountable.”
On his part, President John Evans Atta Mills thanked God for his tender mercies and loving kindness to nation and prayed that he will continue to shower his blessings on his children.
“Any society that does not have God as its foundation, is likely to collapse, indeed the secret behind the successful nations is the fact that they all lean heavily on the Almighty”, he noted.
At certain times when we are weary as individuals and as a nation, Professor Mills indicated that the good Lord carries his children at his back.
He was optimistic that Ghana as a nation has a special place in the heart of the almighty and for that matter he will never abandon Ghanaians.
He commended each and every Ghanaian for their individual and collective roles which ensured peace before, during and after the elections which saw him becoming the President.
Now that the elections are over, the President noted that work has to begin in earnest, asking all Ghanaians to gird their loins to work hard to consolidate the gains made so far.
“We need to be united as a nation to face the challenges ahead”, he said.
For him, honesty, transparency, hard work and love for one another are the only virtues that Ghanaians need to build a strong and viable nation, “we need always to join hands as a people with a common destiny, we need to forgive one another, we need to move forward as a people who have a protector who never fails.”
In that regard, the President noted that he is considering the option of setting aside a day as a day national thanksgiving.”
He proposed that every last Friday in January be set aside to be observed as such by Muslims whilst the first Sunday in the month February will be reserved for Christians for the same purpose.
Speaker after speaker expressed concern about the level of acrimony and division that characterised the just-ended General elections and stressed the urgent need for all Ghanaians to adopt an attitudinal change that will help move the country forward.
Preaching the sermon, the Bolgatanga based Reverent Minister, Rev. Eastwood Anaba wondered why the Ghanaian society had become rife with intolerance.
He however foresaw a new kind of revolution coming to Ghana which surpasses the mere tenets of industrial, social or intellectual revolution but one that he called “spiritual revolution”.
In this kind of revolution, which he said is written in the constitution of the spirits of Ghanaians, Rev. Anaba noted that one did not require a Parliamentarian, lawyer or an intellectual to read and interpret but to do it with one’s own conscience.
“May the conscience of this nation and the conscience of our leaders evolve into that which is super-natural, may a super-natural change come upon this nation and seize us like the way an armed robber seizes an unsuspecting victim on the highway”, he prayed.
As a man of ‘Frafra’ origin who is married to a Kwahu woman, Reverend Anaba could not but use his family as an example of how people from various backgrounds and beliefs can co-exist without any acrimony whatsoever.
According to him, this has been made possible by the trend of love and understanding that lies between him and his wife and therefore charged all Ghanaians to take a queue from his example to help move the country forward in one accord.
For him, there can be no better time than this, stressing that this is the time for Ghana to move forward and had this to tell the President “Professor John Evans Atta Mills, what a moment and time you have in your hand, you hold in your hand, a nation at a time that many Presidents never had because at the time of unprecedented chaos, that is when you need a man to stand and we thank God that this is the man God has chosen for us through our prophetic thumb-print.”
Whilst he conceded that there are difficult times ahead, Rev. Anaba was optimistic of Ghana’s ability to lift itself from doldrums, emphasising “what a time so difficult a task and yet surmountable.”
On his part, President John Evans Atta Mills thanked God for his tender mercies and loving kindness to nation and prayed that he will continue to shower his blessings on his children.
“Any society that does not have God as its foundation, is likely to collapse, indeed the secret behind the successful nations is the fact that they all lean heavily on the Almighty”, he noted.
At certain times when we are weary as individuals and as a nation, Professor Mills indicated that the good Lord carries his children at his back.
He was optimistic that Ghana as a nation has a special place in the heart of the almighty and for that matter he will never abandon Ghanaians.
He commended each and every Ghanaian for their individual and collective roles which ensured peace before, during and after the elections which saw him becoming the President.
Now that the elections are over, the President noted that work has to begin in earnest, asking all Ghanaians to gird their loins to work hard to consolidate the gains made so far.
“We need to be united as a nation to face the challenges ahead”, he said.
For him, honesty, transparency, hard work and love for one another are the only virtues that Ghanaians need to build a strong and viable nation, “we need always to join hands as a people with a common destiny, we need to forgive one another, we need to move forward as a people who have a protector who never fails.”
In that regard, the President noted that he is considering the option of setting aside a day as a day national thanksgiving.”
He proposed that every last Friday in January be set aside to be observed as such by Muslims whilst the first Sunday in the month February will be reserved for Christians for the same purpose.
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