The Resurrection and---Hippity, Hoppity, Easter's on its Way
Posted: Wednesday, April 08, 2009
by Sandra E. Graham
My Books and Articles
As with several Holidays, we have another two-in-one' coming up. For the adults and older children, it is the Celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior. For the very young, it is the Return of the Easter Bunny- here comes Peter Cottontail-and all that. Another debatable Holiday is just a few days away and questions will be flying back and forth:
Is it wrong to support the theory-to our two and three and four-year-olds-that there is an Easter Bunny that actually runs around our front yards, or the church yard, hiding colored and candy filled eggs in the grass and behind the trees? Just as a few months back, we debated the wisdom of including Santa Claus in celebration of the birth of Christ.
Here again I must take sides with the little ones and vote for keeping the Easter Bunny alive and well-at least in our neighborhood. I will boil the eggs and allow my grandchildren to wreak havoc with my kitchen as they fight over which colors to mix and match as the stain soaks into my countertops and it will be close to next Easter before these colorful stains are finally totally erased.
Even so, I do not belittle the true meaning of Easter Sunday any more than I do Christmas Eve. Along with the Easter Bunny, (and being raised in the Christian Faith) we go to church and say our prayers and sing our praises to God our Father for giving us the gift of eternal Life through His only begotten Son.
Allowing His Son to be beaten unmercifully to within inches of death-and yet, not allowing Him to die quickly and humanely-but forcing Him to live on through the tortures that would have killed an ordinary man early on. We are taught that His suffering was preordained; had a purpose, a reason.
Many asked, even as He suffered the taunts, the crown of thorns, the spit in the face, and the final insult of vinegar to ease His thirst as He hang on the cross at Calvary: "If he be the King of the Jews and has truly saved many, why then does he not save himself?"
Christ could have saved Himself, but then the prophecies would not have been fulfilled and man would not have had the opportunity to be relieved of their ever-mounting burden of sins. God had a plan; a plan that was mentioned over and over in the old Testament and for that plan to work, Jesus was destined to suffer and die on the cross. But Jesus knew that His suffering would end, but His soul would not die along with the lowly body that was but a temporary garment donned only during His short stay on earth.
Along with all true-believing Christians, Jesus knew that He would be resurrected and join His Father's side to suffer no more. And as Christians, we celebrate Easter Sunday as a date as close as any human can guess at His true resurrection. As with His birth, exact dates are not what is important about our Savior; but the fact that He came, He taught, and He gave His life for us.
So my family and I will go to church this Sunday and give thanks for the goodness that God and Jesus Christ have done in our lives and pray for the world and all who are in it, no matter their religious convictions. We will ask for forgiveness of our sins and our trespasses. We will teach our little ones in their Sunday school classes what this Sunday means to us all and why we celebrate it as something special.
Then we will join family and friends in the churchyard to watch our little ones joyously rush around the yard searching for the candy filled and colored eggs that have been hidden before church began. And you can bet that I will have my movie camera rolling to catch all the happy faces and possibly a few sad as Easter eggs are dropped and broken.
We will be combining love, spirituality, and fun all in one day.
Wishing everyone a Joyous Easter.
Here again I must take sides with the little ones and vote for keeping the Easter Bunny alive and well-at least in our neighborhood. I will boil the eggs and allow my grandchildren to wreak havoc with my kitchen as they fight over which colors to mix and match as the stain soaks into my countertops and it will be close to next Easter before these colorful stains are finally totally erased.
Even so, I do not belittle the true meaning of Easter Sunday any more than I do Christmas Eve. Along with the Easter Bunny, (and being raised in the Christian Faith) we go to church and say our prayers and sing our praises to God our Father for giving us the gift of eternal Life through His only begotten Son.
Allowing His Son to be beaten unmercifully to within inches of death-and yet, not allowing Him to die quickly and humanely-but forcing Him to live on through the tortures that would have killed an ordinary man early on. We are taught that His suffering was preordained; had a purpose, a reason.
Many asked, even as He suffered the taunts, the crown of thorns, the spit in the face, and the final insult of vinegar to ease His thirst as He hang on the cross at Calvary: "If he be the King of the Jews and has truly saved many, why then does he not save himself?"
Christ could have saved Himself, but then the prophecies would not have been fulfilled and man would not have had the opportunity to be relieved of their ever-mounting burden of sins. God had a plan; a plan that was mentioned over and over in the old Testament and for that plan to work, Jesus was destined to suffer and die on the cross. But Jesus knew that His suffering would end, but His soul would not die along with the lowly body that was but a temporary garment donned only during His short stay on earth.
Along with all true-believing Christians, Jesus knew that He would be resurrected and join His Father's side to suffer no more. And as Christians, we celebrate Easter Sunday as a date as close as any human can guess at His true resurrection. As with His birth, exact dates are not what is important about our Savior; but the fact that He came, He taught, and He gave His life for us.
So my family and I will go to church this Sunday and give thanks for the goodness that God and Jesus Christ have done in our lives and pray for the world and all who are in it, no matter their religious convictions. We will ask for forgiveness of our sins and our trespasses. We will teach our little ones in their Sunday school classes what this Sunday means to us all and why we celebrate it as something special.
Then we will join family and friends in the churchyard to watch our little ones joyously rush around the yard searching for the candy filled and colored eggs that have been hidden before church began. And you can bet that I will have my movie camera rolling to catch all the happy faces and possibly a few sad as Easter eggs are dropped and broken.
We will be combining love, spirituality, and fun all in one day.
Wishing everyone a Joyous Easter.
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Top-level comments on this article: (8 total)Sandra,Where's the usual abundance of commenters? I'm the first one? I'm honored."Allowing His Son to be beaten unmercifully to within inches of death-and yet, not allowing Him to die quickly and humanely-but forcing Him to live on through the tortures that would have killed an ordinary man early on. His suffering was preordained; had a purpose, a reason."And if any of us wonder why we have to suffer, considering the billions who've suffered over the years on this crazy little orb, we can look to Christ's suffering. I think it's very difficult to get our minds around the issue of not only His suffering but the great suffering that has groaned forth from this planet for thousands of years. It's difficult for us humans to take it all in.And as far as a bunny, eggs, and candy equaling Christ's Resurrection, that's, as you've said, for the children. As a child, I loved Easter morn, hunting for my basket of candy and gifts as well as all the eggs we had painted days before. I read an article wondering if the Lord approved of his Resurrection being associated with the pagan fertility goddess Eostre, and I think you've answered that question here. Like Santa it is a way-in, an introduction to the message of Christ that fascinates and entices the young mind too inexperienced to understand the deeper meaning which comes to most later in life.When I first read the title of your article I thought of the elderly woman in the Wedding Singer "I said a hip hop a hippie to the hippie. The hip hip hop a you don't stop. The rock it to the bang bang boogie say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie the beat!"
Sorry, couldn't resist.Peace to you and yours during this glorious week.Thanks, Jeff--I enjoyed your comment---the hip hop and all that. I don't think God minds when we do things that make innocent young minds happy. They learn that going to Church is a good thing that makes them laugh and feel happy. Hopefully this will make them want to continue to go to church as they grow and learn the truths about life.Thanks again for reading and commenting. And Happy Easter to little Mikey.Sandra
I enjoyed reading your article Sandra, thanks for sharingAnd thanks to you, David, for reading and commenting.Sandra
Thanks for writing this, Sandra. I once struggled with this issue also, but now I agree with you. My grandchildren are going to be instructed about the true meaning of Easter as they grow older (they are 2 and 7 mo. old), so I'm not willing to forego the Easter bunny thing right now. Growing up, my parents did not promote the Easter bunny or Santa Claus. These were religious holidays, period. My husband's family was exactly the opposite. When we had our children, we settled on the aforementioned "compromise".Thanks so much for reading and commenting. And I wish you and your grandchildren a very Happy Easter and Lord's Day.Sandra
Great article. Well done.In this country the Easter bunny is only used really in adverts.Thanks, Connor, for reading and commenting.Have a wonderful Easter Sunday.Sandra
Nice article, Sandra, and a great pic. Nothing says "Happy Easter" more than an Elmo Basket! Seriously, I may have to get one for me, umm, for Lilly!Our God is not diminished by something like that, nor the meaning of Easter. It is part of the blessing of Easter, part of the unbridled joy of renewal.Your description of the coloring of eggs really took me back. I'll bet you're one fantastic Grandma!!Thanks so much, Ken. When I was growing up, I remember many Easters spent at my grandparents house---colored eggs, hid by our parents and grandparents. It was always a wonderful Holiday. I like to keep up the traditions.Sandra
Enjoyed your article very much. I love the Lord and I love watching the kids look for eggs. I don't think God is diminished either. Hope you have a wonderful Easter with your family.God Bless You,Linda DThanks for reading and commenting and have a very Happy Easter.Sandra
Sandra, I was discussing or perhaps ranting about this earlier with one of my sisters. I asked if they were having an Easter egg hunt at the church and she mentioned it wasn't something the pastor supported (at church) and neither was a Christmas tree. Well, I sounded off. We take too much out of the church these days for our children, I feel. The world has too much to offer and subsequently give to them and the church doesn't want to compete. I told her if I were there, I'd do what you and your family did and invite all the kids. I'd make sure the pastor knew about it, too.
I agree with everything you said and how you feel Jesus feels about what we do for the children as long as they get dual messages with the true meaning of Christian holidays being most important.
You're a Great-grandma! I also shared with her, if it were not a sin for my parents then it couldn't be for anyone else either! They were truly born-again believers!
Happy Easter to you and your Family. I love the pic!
He's alive in me,
AvisThanks Avis, for the support. I really do believe that some people can make too much out of some of our Holiday traditions. I don't feel we are bowing to graven images or anything close to that when we allow the children to hunt Easter eggs or peek around the staircase for Santa Claus. We keep these things separate from the religious portion of the Holiday and I think that goes for all true Christians.Happy Children make Happy Adults.Thanks for commenting.Sandra
Sandra,Thank you for a very well balanced article. I too am one who would not take the Easter Bunny and colored eggs from the children and as an adult, I whole heartedly believe that Easter was about Christ's resurrection. Not to mention we are to love and showing our children and grandchildren love through fun with colored eggs or whatever is a wonderful thing.God bless you alwaysThanks so much, Michelle, for reading and commenting. Hope you had a wonderful Easter Sunday.Sandra
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