We must be pure in heart
Tonight, all of Guyana would be ablaze in lights as the nation gears for the colourful festival of Diwali. It is a festival that marks the beginning of the new solstice but for many, it is the time to celebrate after a successful harvest at this time of the year, a time when all preparations are being made for the winter season. In Guyana, we all, regardless of our religious or ethnic persuasion gravitate toward the scenes that we have come to associate with Diwali. We flock the streets in our hundreds and possibly thousands to witness the gaily lit motorcades that pay homage to the Goddess of Light, Mother Laxhmi. On the Essequibo Coast, the various Mandirs challenge each other for the best decorated float and it is no different in other parts of the country. Most of us live in and around Georgetown and from sundown one of the major thoroughfares in the city, Sheriff Street, would be almost impassable. We are going to leave our homes to witness all those who would light hundreds of diyas, depending on their financial status, all those who would leave their homes open to allow for the passage of the deities, and all those who would pray for peace and tranquility for the year ahead. Everyone who would be actively involved in celebrating Diwali would be most sincere in their prayers. And those of us who are non-Hindus would surely appreciate the requests being made. We would expect the Supreme Being to grant to us whatever we ask. But every request carries with it a concomitant favour. We must be pure in heart. That being the case, we therefore cannot understand the animosity that exists between the races of this country. At different times in the year each race would be praying for peace, health, the ability to love each other and for all the good things in life. The good things surely do not come to people with impure hearts. We can only conclude that people pay lip service to the basic tenets of their religion. We have seen the messages, the aspirations that abound during every religious festival. For the Christians, these hopes and aspirations become the focus during the Lenten season, culminating on Good Friday and Easter. The Muslims use the teachings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad at Eid and the Hindus, on the celebration of the festival of Holi and now, at Diwali. We must now ask, from whence comes this hostility that pits us at each other’s throat so often. It has been the desire of most of us that we could all behave in a civilized manner. It is as though we simply mouth the prayers. Something must be wrong. As we walk the streets tonight, we would be commingling with each other. We would express sincere sentiments but for some reason, these sentiments would change with the dawn of a new day as we go back to our haunts and to those among us who harbour bitter sentiments against others in our midst. Perhaps it is our insincerity that has led to us being among the poorest in the world despite our natural riches; it may be this same insincerity that has others looking at us as though we are pariahs. The pious among us would often say that we should not attempt to fool the Supreme Being that this Being does not take kindly to such acts. Therefore, as we observe the festival of lights and we offer prayers for the better things of life, we must also search our heart to ensure that we are sincere. We cannot ask for blessings when deep in our heart we are distrustful of others primarily because they are of a different religion or of a different ethnic group. Let us live as one people with a common goal to make ourselves and our country better. To do so would probably be the best thing we would ever do for our very survival.