He is risen indeed!
When I was 19 and writing pretentiously in my journal, I had realized that Easter, not Christmas, should be the big central celebration of the Christian faith. As it was, the holiday usually sneaked up on us, and we said, "Oh, it's Easter Sunday tomorrow." I resolved that when I was married and had children, I'd make Easter a really big deal. Also, I wrote, my children wouldn't have Easter baskets or egg hunts or any of that nonsense. I subscribed to the view that you couldn't properly appreciate the spiritual significance of something unless it was pure, transcendent, and not cluttered up with a lot of vulgar earthly fun.
Many years later, I find myself part of the liturgical Christian tradition. We spend the entire church year anticipating Easter -- and especially the forty days leading up to it. It's easy to build anticipation with your children when a large chunk of Christendom is doing the same thing. Also, a sacramental view of faith says that humans relate best to God with physical symbols: fire, water, bread, wine. Easter baskets and colored eggs are hardly sacraments, but sometimes a little vulgar earthly fun enhances the spiritual celebration.
All that to say that the kids were up at 7:30 this morning, exclaiming over Easter baskets and singing in off-key, sleepy voices, "Christ is risen from the dead, trampling over death by death, Come away! Come away! Come and rise up from the grave!"
It's Easter! Alleluia!
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* Revisiting church
* Fat = stupid
* Revisiting church
* Fat = stupid
2 comments:
I have to protest in my own behalf. Easter did not sneak up on me. I spent a week doing special cleaning and decorating for the Day. Your baskets were lackluster because: 1.There were so many of you. 2. I preferred fruit to candy, so my choices were limited. 3 I bought Arch books instead of toys. And, 4.Remember dying eggs with 5 kids with an eleven-year gap from oldest to youngest?
True, our churches did not observe Lent (although that is changing some, along with Advent observance), but I regarded Easter as the most important day of the year.
Sorry. Like a daughter of mine, sometimes I have to have a little rant. Joyous Easter.
No, no, wait, Mom! I haven't done the Easter Basket post where I thank my mom for the baskets with candy and fruit! It was the general church attitude, not yours, I meant.
Probably the reason I figured out the significance of Easter was because my mama told me so when I was younger. :)
-- SJ
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