I’m ticked at Easter. I can’t help it.
I went to a Christian bookstore yesterday to buy Lydia a book about the resurrection of Jesus. They had an entire shelf dedicated to the holiday that celebrates that event. Every single one of those books had the word “easter” in the title. Not one book was called, “He Lives”, “Jesus is Alive”, “It’s All About Jesus” or even “Happy Spring!” Now, in case you think I’m a scrooge (I know that’s mixing my holidays, I just don’t know the easter equivalent) I just want to remind you that the word “Easter” is not in the Bible. I won’t even get into the pagan goddess Eostre or the fertility festivals to honor her and her pet bunny. Let me just say it again, EASTER is not in the Bible.
Don’t get me wrong, bunnies and chickies and eggs are cute. It’s much more fun to roam the holiday section at Target in March than in October. But for the past few years, I have refused to say “Easter” when referring to the Resurrection Day of Jesus. I can’t stand mixing the event that changed the world with eggs and baskets. I don’t even feel this strongly about Halloween. It’s blatantly pagan and I’m ok with that.
I just haven’t known exactly what to do about this because I don’t want my daughter to go through life without a Cadbury Creme Egg or a floral dress. But I do want her to know the difference between truth and tradition. So, I was glad to find this post from Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer. She suggests having a First Day of Spring Party with all the “easter” trimmings–do an egg hunt, eat a chocolate bunny, dye eggs till your fingers are blue. Then on Resurrection Day, celebrate…uhm, how about…oh, yeah!…the Resurrection of Jesus. You don’t miss out on the pagan American traditions and your focus is entirely in the right place.
So, here’s my baby girl, last week, picking up eggs with the best of them.
I’ll leave you with this quote by Samuel Stennet (circa 1787):
“To Him I owe my life and breath,
And all the joys I have;
He makes me triumph over death,
And saves me from the grave.”
(For the record, after my book hunt, I did end up buying Lydia two books. One is called, Easter, Easter, Almost Here and it’s about Palm Sunday. Go figure. The other is The Easter Story which actually is about Jesus’ death and resurrection.)
Anonymous says
I had never thought about “Easter” not being in the Bible. I agree with your post. It is such a shame that The Resurrection of Jesus has turned into an Easter egg hunt for most. So sad.