Five books to savour during Easter
It’s that time of the year when you become even more reflective as your Lenten sacrifices have come to an end. The Holy Week has brought us full cycle from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to his resurrection at Easter. It also reminds Christians of the promises they made during Lent and in spite of […]
It’s that time of the year when you become even more reflective as your Lenten sacrifices have come to an end. The Holy Week has brought us full cycle from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ to his resurrection at Easter. It also reminds Christians of the promises they made during Lent and in spite of the celebration, at the back of their minds, they are all thinking about maintenance of the reflective period of Lent to include all the things that they have decided to give up. Smoking maybe, lie-telling, fornication, adultery, lack of charity, stealing, kidnapping and wickedness. Easter is wonderful, it’s the triumph of good over evil and the defeat of Satan by God but also the celebration of Jesus Christ’s ultimate sacrifice for the sins of man and his triumph over death. In the midst of the celebration, I want us to pause and remember some really horrible things in our past that is rearing its head again especially kidnapping and human trafficking and the sheer evil of betrayal and bare faced robbery in our offices and a nation that seems deaf to how we are destroying our values. Let us celebrate of course, it is that time when our fasting has come to an end and we are expected to be better persons. As Lent comes to an end with Easter, the Muslim fast begins shortly. Nothing is more profound for peaceful co-existence. Time to sheath our swords and be our brother’s keeper.
Happy Easter to you all. Here are the books that speak to me this season, I hope they speak to you as well.
1. Roots – The saga of an American family by Alex Haley. This is a book that is well known by most persons in my generation and a book we must share with our children about colonial history and the transatlantic slave trade. But Alex Haley talked about us all, those who allowed the sale and those who carted many Africans across the ocean for commerce. This story was told to Alex by his grandmother about her grandfather and their grandparents leading him to explore the authenticity of the story through three continents and half a million miles of travel. He finally found the village his grandmother told him about in the Gambia where his ancestors were sold into slavery and found his sixth generation cousins in Africa. A story of man’s wickedness and the indomitable nature of the human spirit. This Easter season, grab this book and begin to read it again and learn new lessons in racism, betrayal and triumph.
2. Teach the children the real meaning of Easter by Jeanne Anderson. Although this book teaches the lessons of Easter and has a western idea including Easter bunnies and Easter eggs which is not our tradition, there are deep messages to be learnt from within the book about Easter, atonement, the crucifixion of Christ, the reason Christ and sacrifice. They also learn about Easter traditions in other climes.
3. The Bible – This is a great time to read through the entire passion of Christ slowly and learn new tucked in messages of how there is no gain without pain and the many perspectives of the ultimate sacrifice for humanity.
4. Ten best books to read for Easter; A selection to inspire, educate, and provoke: Excerpts from new and classic titles by best-selling authors in the field. Introduced by New York Times best-selling author, the Jesuit priest, James Martin, this book curates some of the most profound authors on the meaning and tenets of Easter to include Desmond and Mpho Tuut’s book, Made for goodness.
5. Raised with Christ – How the resurrection changes everything by Adrian Warmock. For Christians, Jesus is truly alive today. But the author advises that all focus a little more on the resurrection, not just that Jesus died as an atonement for our sins. He reminds all that it is imperative that we remember “that he was raised for our justification” (Romans 4.25) Warmock adds that Christians who faithfully proclaim both the death and bodily resurrection of Christ place forward the message of grace and allow them to understand the full implication of an empty tomb.