Time to reflect on country’s journey

THE National Day of Repentance falls tomorrow on Aug 26.
Shortly after Prime Minister James Marape was first elected to office in May 2019, he found an occasion, on repentance day, to direct a curse upon corrupt individuals wherever they could be found – from the highest office of the prime minister down through every strata to the lowest in society.
We remember the occasion well. He wore a brown suit.
Like all things that happen in Papua New Guinea the curse was soon forgotten.
Periodically somebody brought it up but, by and large, it seemed to be water under the bridge.
Is a curse something to be lightly invoked and lightly cast aside?
What is its purpose in the first place?
To those of us of the Judeo-Christian faith, a curse has spiritual origin and terrible and long lasting consequences.
The first curse mentioned in the Bible appears at Genesis 3:17: “And to Adam He said: ‘Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you – You shall not eat of it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you, in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life’.”
Eve and Adam’s transgression was promptly punished by a curse from On-High and that punishment extended to all mankind in perpetuity.
The curse continues and you stand cursed by God because of Adam as you read this.
The manner in which you acquire your next meal is testimony to the effectiveness of that ancient curse.
A curse sticks, especially if the person issuing it holds authority over those he curses – a father over his household, a pastor over his congregation, a prime minister over his nation, God over his creation.
A curse, in all its interpretations, contains harm and malice. The opposite of it is a blessing.
What was the purpose of the PM’s curse?
Was it to dissuade corruption? Was it to frighten people from straying into corruption? Would it have lifted the corrupt up?
Evil and corruption, wherever it is to be found, must be pulled out root and stem and fed to the fire, extinguished.
Corruption, in everyday application, means the process by which persons in positions of influence or authority dishonestly apply resources, including money, under their care for purposes other than their intended purpose.
Who are those “persons”? Are they a minority, a few or a larger group, a community or even a nation?
In a wider sense, sin is corruption. It is a deviation from the way of good. You dishonestly apply time, energy and resources not your own upon pursuits that suit yourself and not for the purpose it was meant for.
When you look at it that way the whole of this nation, because it comprises humans with all their faults, are corrupt in one way or another.
When you see it that way it might well be that this nation is corrupt and that its prime minister’s curse lies not for a select few but the majority or all of the nation. That is frightening.
Corruption, in truth, is systemic and society-wide.
It is now endemic and entrenched.
The mechanic will not work on the car quickly unless he is paid some side money.
The cheque printer will have printer or ink problems unless someone is paid. And so on and so forth throughout society.
Now, there will be those out there who might see all this discussion as nit-picking or reading too much into it and all of that but do they know what the full impact or effect of the curse is or where it begins and ends or what form of punishment is attached?
If they do not than we must not threat lightly of matters we have not a clue about as to its origin, its effect, what form it takes or its longevity.