I am usually an Easter Grinch; I complain about the entire celebration. I love church during Holy Week, especially the solemn grief of Good Friday. I also love church on Easter morning, with the church draped in white while we sing Christ the Lord is Risen Today. But, all the secular stuff we do for Easter, especially with little kids, really annoys me. It’s silly, and a lot of work, and very little pay-off, since I don’t want to eat all the candy and gain 100 lbs. I mean, how ridiculous is the Easter bunny? I guess it’s some sort of homage to pagan religions, and the eggs symbolize life, or resurrection or something. But, it’s contrived and just silly--why is a bunny delivering eggs? Don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with pagan holidays. Give me a good May Day or Midsummer party and I’m thrilled. Bonfires, May poles, drinking, dancing, all bring back fun times from my 20s. If Easter were just about parties, food and fun, without all the prep-work, I would be all in.
But, why some silly bunny delivering eggs, which I don’t like to eat and which I then have to hide? That’s another problem, I HATE looking for things. I refuse to look for things, except the most essential things, like my cell phone, car keys, the book I’m currently reading, and those two little kids who follow me around. Other than that, if I lose something, I just go on without it, rather than spend energy searching for it. In my experience, it usually turns up eventually. Once, my brother-in-law found our t.v. remote, which had been missing for about six months. It was on the top of the microwave. Oh well--we had managed without it in the meantime. Looking for things seems like punishment for me, even looking for plastic eggs filled with candy. So, Easter is annoying, with making baskets of candy I shouldn’t eat, coloring eggs that I wouldn’t eat, hiding them places that I wouldn’t find them. I mean, come on!
For some reason, though, this year, I’m not as grinchy as usual. I’m not dreading the mess of coloring eggs, I’ve already got my Easter baskets ready, and I’m taking the girls to meet the Easter Bunny. (They will probably be terrified.) My perspective has changed and I’m not sure why. Maybe the silly, unrelated, secular extravaganza of Easter does mean something. Let’s think about the actual, unreasonable, reason for the celebration for Christians. The idea that a Jewish rabbi, teacher, and worker for social justice died the death of a traitor is tragic. We live that again on Good Friday. That is reasonable and understandable. Then, three days later, he walks out of the tomb and says, “Hey guys, it’s me! Glad to see you!” That is unbelievable. So, we figure that he is what he said he was; he is the Son of God, the portion of the Holy Trinity that became wholly human, that died and rose again, defeating death for everyone, for all eternity. That is crazy! That is unreasonable! It is just as hard to understand as a giant bunny that delivers colored eggs to children in pastel baskets. I mean, if you’re going to believe that the Son of God sacrificed himself out of love for a bunch of regular people, sinners each and all, then you might as well put on a bunny costume and hand out candy to children. If Easter means we are all saved by God’s grace, no matter how rotten we are, then why hold back? Bring on the bunnies, the candy, the pastel hats with flowers, the whole shebang! This year, my grinch is silent, and I’m ready to embrace the ridiculous extravaganza that is Easter.
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