The Message of Christianity and reconciliation

Christianity is almost all about reconciliation. It was to reconcile Man with God, that Jesus Christ or God in the form of a human, came into this world more than 2000 years ago.

Essentially, the Christian belief is that Man, who was initially united with God in Paradise, separated himself from his creator by sinning or by living according to his own whims and fancies. That is, by following his impulses which ran counter to his essentially divine nature, which God had endowed him with.

Accordingly, it was to reconcile Man with Him that God took human shape and came into this world in the form of Jesus Christ. Consequently, by listening to Christ's words and living according to them, we reunite ourselves with God.

Thus, reconciliation is a principal theme of the Christian doctrine and the teachings of Christ. When Jesus Christ walked this earth, he not only preached reconciliation between God and Man, but spoke continuously of the need for reconciliation, love and forgiveness among humans. Since Man has been reconciled with God through Jesus, we are expected to act in a spirit of reconciliation and forgiving love in our relations with other humans.

Tomorrow, as the world celebrates the holy feast of Christmas once again, these fundamental aspects of the teachings of Christ would need to be borne in the hearts of all those who claim allegiance to Jesus Christ.

It goes without saying that reconciliation is an urgent need of Sri Lanka today. In fact, reconciliation is a prime focus of the LLRC and its final report deals with numerous ways in which reconciliation could be achieved in this land. And the country could be glad that the LLRC, thus, underscores the ways in which reconciliation could be promoted and achieved. The state, along with the people of this country, are obliged to take cognizance of the recommendations of the LLRC and implement them earnestly, if a firm foundation is to be laid for national reconciliation.

It is our hope that Christmas would be a reminder that reconciliation should be a focus of this country in the days ahead. That is, we need to see a true birth of forgiving love among the people of this land.

Forgiving love and reconciliation should be the cardinal values of this country because some complacency has gained ground among many that all that needs to be done by way of resolving our conflict has been effectively done.

True, LTTE terror is no more, but this does not mean that we are over and done with resolving issues facing Sri Lanka. We could say, that the military component of dealing with our conflict has been implemented, but not the political component. To achieve the latter, not only must the outstanding grievances of our communities be resolved, but reconciliation and a strong bonding of fraternal unity, needs to be established among the people of this land. This is the challenge facing the country today.

'Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you' - this is a central teaching of Jesus Christ. We believe that this teaching focuses on the main ingredient in national reconciliation. At the level of persons and collectivities or groups, if we do not treat others the way we would not like to be treated by them, a giant step could be taken in the direction of national reconciliation. For instance, since we do not like to be discriminated against on any grounds by others, we should not do the same to them. If we do so, we are violating the golden norm for reconciliation and peaceful living and are by virtue of this transgression, paving the way for conflicts and acrimony at the inter-personal and community levels. Eventually, such sources of embitterment spark prolonged turbulence and societal disorder.

Accordingly, there is no getting away from the need for reconciliation and forgiving love. Let it not be forgotten that the Buddha, another great teacher of this world, said that loving-kindness is the basic essential for peaceful living among humans. He also famously proclaimed that 'hatred does not cease by hatred'.

Therefore, Sri Lanka needs to look afresh at these sayings of our great sages and also question whether they are being fulfilled by us,who claim to be their loyalists. Unless and until, reconciliation, correctly understood, is practised, there would be no let-up in the tensions afflicting this country.

Accordingly, post-conflict Lanka, needs to be founded on forgiving love, because this goes to the heart of reconciliation.