For He is risen
WE find ourselves again contemplating the miracle of Easter, the period in the Christian calendar that embraces repentance and meditation and overwhelming joy in equal proportions.
Tomorrow, Christians will focus on the agony of the Lord Jesus Christ as he was nailed to the Cross, the symbol that would come to mark his own death, his miraculous resurrection and both the might and the humility of the religion that continues to carry his message today.
The Easter period – the contemplation of that terrible death followed by doubt and despair, then the celebration of the fulfillment of the promise, the resurrection and the eternal life that it made real – have been the core of Christian belief for two millennia.
What does Easter mean for Papua New Guinea 2008?
Because those earthly events occurred so long ago and because the settings and the details they embrace belong to another era, it is all too easy for us to see the Bible and the unique events of Easter as a legend.
Some of us choose to see Easter in that way.
If we do, then those events have the impact of our ancestral creation legends, the ways in which we account for the genesis of our own societies and beliefs in PNG.
But Christian belief goes far beyond the confines of such legends to embrace societies around the globe and to offer the most priceless gift to all who will believe – the remission of sins and the life everlasting.
Christianity promises that indescribable boon to all who will truly repent, confess their sins and accept the Lord
into their lives as their sole guide.
Many see the promise of everlasting life as the great gift of Christian belief.
And so it is – but it is not given lightly.
The Bible makes it clear that we are all sinners and only by repentance and remorse can we hope to earn that extraordinary promise and accept the sacrifice made by the Lord on the Cross.
We are told that He died that we might be redeemed.
His death was the price for nullifying the sins of humanity but we must acknowledge our own sins in order to reach out and embrace that unique gift.
The people of our country raise their voices in a ceaseless call for leadership.
Like the children of Israel, we ask who will lead us into a better world.
Who will commit their lives to make PNG a nation that
enjoys the respect of all, one that is free of poverty and crime, deceit and corruption?
Christians will tell you that the answer is simple.
If our people are led by men and women with the strength to fight evil and the humility to bury self-interest, we cannot fail.
If our leaders are in truth God-fearing, if they can accept with humility the guidance and the power of the Lord, then our society is indeed blessed.
Our people are looking for such leaders.
They may not even be able to find the words to explain the gap in their lives but the vacuum they sense is nonetheless real.
There is nothing easy about Christianity.
The majesty of God is not to be trivialised nor is our awe
of Him to be reduced to a slogan.
The death of our Lord that we mark tomorrow and his subsequent resurrection pose questions beyond our ability to answer.
But we do not need to answer them.
We need only to recognise the truth of our own salvation and the forgiveness of our sins in order to begin the process of allowing the Almighty to accept that leadership role, not only in our lives but in our nation, expressed through our own leaders.
Christianity demands
faith.
It demands a personal commitment on the part of believers, a commitment to listen to the still, small voice within our consciousness and to accept both the joys and the burdens that such a commitment must bring.
Tomorrow marks the apparent triumph of death and despair.
But Easter Day celebrates the magnificent fulfillment of the Lord’s promise and the end of the power of death.
May your Easter be a
meaningful and holy celebration.
 
Climate refugees in political pass-the-parcel
THE islanders of Tuvalu could lose their homes and much of their land in the coming decades. But the world has yet to figure out how it will deal with them, and millions of others, who may be displaced by climate change.
“It’s a game of political pass-the-parcel,” Andrew Simms, policy director at British think-tank New Economics Foundation, said. “No one wants to be left holding the problem of climate refugees.”
It is a problem with immediate resonance in the nine tiny Pacific islands that make up Tuvalu. The group of atolls and reefs is on average barely 2m above sea level.
The United Nations climate panel estimates that oceans will rise by 18-59cm by 2100. This, along with environmental degradation, could make large parts of Tuvalu uninhabitable.
Japanese activist and journalist Shuichi Endo has set himself the daunting task of photographing 10,000 Tuvaluans – nearly the entire population – in a bid to draw political attention to the threat they face from global warming.
“If industrialised countries like Japan and the US don’t cut their greenhouse gas emissions, the Tuvaluans won’t be able to carry on living here,” Endo said by telephone from Nukulaelae island, as children laughed in the background.
“Their culture will be lost, the Tuvaluans will no longer exist, and that would be very sad. Here, people live in tune with the natural environment. They don’t emit carbon, and we can learn a lot from them.”
No one seems to know where the Tuvaluans would go if their islands disappear – something one study said could happen in just 50 years.
Australia has been approached by the islands’ authorities, but has not agreed to let the 12,000 islanders resettle there. New Zealand accepts 75 Tuvaluans a year under a regional immigration quota, but has no explicit policy to take in people from Pacific island countries due to climate change.
Tuvalu’s plight does not augur well for millions of others – from Africa’s Sahel region to Bangladesh – who could be forced from their homes by climate change.
“There is a lack of concern about this right now,” Frank Biermann, a professor at Vrije University’s Institute for Environmental Studies in Amsterdam, said. “A crisis is unlikely to occur before 2030 or 2040. But if we don’t want to see people in camps, violence and other nasty consequences, we need to start planning now.”
Besides higher sea levels, the UN climate panel warns that rising global temperatures – caused by human activities led by burning fossil fuels – are likely to bring more droughts, flooding and stronger storms.
Experts predict climate change-related stresses – including disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over scarce resources – could permanently uproot 200 to 250 million people by mid-century.
Recently, European Union leaders was told to prepare for “substantially increased migratory pressure” due to climate change. A report by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana says people who already suffer from poor health, unemployment or social exclusion will be hit hardest.
That could amplify or trigger mass migration within and between countries, sparking increased conflicts in transit and destination areas, it warns.
“Some countries that are extremely vulnerable to climate change are already calling for international recognition of such environmentally induced migration,” the report says. Unless that demand is met, those fleeing the consequences of climate change will find themselves in a legal limbo.
The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has not endorsed proposals to bring them under its mandate, and there is even a dispute over what exactly to call people made homeless by the effects of climate change.
“UNHCR is afraid that its capacity to deal with political refugees is already over-stretched, and if you introduce a new element, they simply wouldn’t be able to cope,” Simms said.
Biermann says the refugees should be given legal status through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change – the international treaty that is the basis for worldwide efforts to reduce global warming and cope with any temperature increases
He argues that long-term strategies like moving people away from high-risk coastal zones could avert a crisis later. – Reuters
Editorial