Why the bunny?
It's Easter this weekend, and in an effort to remind my kids that there is more to the holiday than chocolate bunnies and painted eggs, I've been reading to them out of a Bible storybook about the events leading up to the crucifixion and resurrection. It being Good Friday, today we got as far as laying Jesus in the tomb. I asked them what they thought would happen next in the story...what event might take place on Sunday morning.
"Oh, I know! He comes alive again!" Beth said. "AND, on Sunday morning we get Easter baskets!"
She paused a moment.
"But why?" she said.
And that's what it always come down to, as I navigate this life of faith and motherhood. Why, mommy? What do Easter baskets have to do with Jesus? Why do we do the things we do? As different holidays come along throughout the year, how do we celebrate the cultural and the spiritual, even when they don't necessarily overlap?
I mean, okay, eggs can be a symbol of new life, like the new life Jesus gives believers, and Easter baskets are gifts, like the gift of new life, and that's the Christian rationale behind the tradition, and so that's what I told her. But it was sort of a cheesy explanation, I thought. I felt cheesy, anyway. Because there's actually a lot about Easter that's a blending of the cultural and the spiritual, the significant and the simply fun. The very name of the celebration comes from the name of a pagan goddess who was celebrated at the vernal equinox. And so just like Christians took the winter solstice celebration and conveniently combined it with Christ's birth, they took the existing spring equinox celebration and combined it with the resurrection.
I know some people who completely swear off all secular influences in their holidays, for this very reason. No egg hunts or bunnies or chocolate. Some folks even call it "Resurrection Sunday" instead of Easter, so as to avoid any mingling of the Christian with the pagan. I know other believers who avoid holiday celebrations altogether, reasoning that there's very little benefit and a lot of worldy, commercialized crap about them.
But the faith that we have didn't come to us in a pure, neat, untangled line. Our beliefs, our practices, the very words we use in church come to us mixed in with thousands of years of church history and culture. People in different times, on different continents, in different languages, have all made their mark on the church.
We don't live our lives in a box, pushed off and separate from the culture that surrounds us. And our holidays aren't wrapped in bubble wrap either. We call it Easter. Because that's its name. The meaning that it has is the meaning we choose to give it. And to us, the word Easter refers to the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, no matter where the word might have come from. Because regardless of the origins of the word or the motivations of the church fathers when they adopted it, that's what it is now.
Sometimes I think we Christians feel this pressure to sprinkle spirituality dust over everything we do--as though unless there's a religious reason for it, we ought to abstain. But some things we do just for fun, and that's okay too. We dye eggs because someone a long time ago decided they symbolized life and it was an Eastery thing to do. And we give Easter baskets to our kids because giving and receiving gifts makes us happy.
And chocolate bunnies? We eat chocolate because it tastes good, dang it. And sometimes, that's enough.
"Oh, I know! He comes alive again!" Beth said. "AND, on Sunday morning we get Easter baskets!"
She paused a moment.
"But why?" she said.
And that's what it always come down to, as I navigate this life of faith and motherhood. Why, mommy? What do Easter baskets have to do with Jesus? Why do we do the things we do? As different holidays come along throughout the year, how do we celebrate the cultural and the spiritual, even when they don't necessarily overlap?
I mean, okay, eggs can be a symbol of new life, like the new life Jesus gives believers, and Easter baskets are gifts, like the gift of new life, and that's the Christian rationale behind the tradition, and so that's what I told her. But it was sort of a cheesy explanation, I thought. I felt cheesy, anyway. Because there's actually a lot about Easter that's a blending of the cultural and the spiritual, the significant and the simply fun. The very name of the celebration comes from the name of a pagan goddess who was celebrated at the vernal equinox. And so just like Christians took the winter solstice celebration and conveniently combined it with Christ's birth, they took the existing spring equinox celebration and combined it with the resurrection.
I know some people who completely swear off all secular influences in their holidays, for this very reason. No egg hunts or bunnies or chocolate. Some folks even call it "Resurrection Sunday" instead of Easter, so as to avoid any mingling of the Christian with the pagan. I know other believers who avoid holiday celebrations altogether, reasoning that there's very little benefit and a lot of worldy, commercialized crap about them.
But the faith that we have didn't come to us in a pure, neat, untangled line. Our beliefs, our practices, the very words we use in church come to us mixed in with thousands of years of church history and culture. People in different times, on different continents, in different languages, have all made their mark on the church.
We don't live our lives in a box, pushed off and separate from the culture that surrounds us. And our holidays aren't wrapped in bubble wrap either. We call it Easter. Because that's its name. The meaning that it has is the meaning we choose to give it. And to us, the word Easter refers to the celebration of Jesus' resurrection, no matter where the word might have come from. Because regardless of the origins of the word or the motivations of the church fathers when they adopted it, that's what it is now.
Sometimes I think we Christians feel this pressure to sprinkle spirituality dust over everything we do--as though unless there's a religious reason for it, we ought to abstain. But some things we do just for fun, and that's okay too. We dye eggs because someone a long time ago decided they symbolized life and it was an Eastery thing to do. And we give Easter baskets to our kids because giving and receiving gifts makes us happy.
And chocolate bunnies? We eat chocolate because it tastes good, dang it. And sometimes, that's enough.
12 comments:
Great post. I completely agree.
Me too.
Easter is an interesting holiday for me. I was saved in between 7th and 8th grade, but it wasn't until I was a sophomore in high school that I found out that Easter was a celebration of the Resurrection. We still do the chocolate and the baskets, but this reminds me we still need to spread the Good News because many just don't know.
You got it right there! 100% agreement here!
Hm, I appear to be the only one with qualms about this post. I've been trying very hard to find how best to place greater emphasis on Christmas and Easter so that my children realize the importance. We refer to Easter as the season of time we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday and the turning of winter into spring. We do give the boys gifts on Resurrection Sunday morning, but we don't really do Easter baskets. I guess I'm the odd one out. It's just that I've been very convicted of not creating a greater sense of the importance these celebrations should hold for us Christians.
Well put. And Genny, I teach elementary school and I always talk about the reasons we celebrate Christmas and Easter with my class.
Nana
I think it's kind of nice to remember that the early Christians incorporated pagan symbols into their celebrations to keep under the radar (avoid death). I think of those weird add-ons, like bunnies as a little tribute to those folks who risked so much for their faith!
Nana, do you teach in public school?
Jen, I've been telling a bit of the story each day up until Easter Sunday. I don't think my mom ever did this type of thing with me. I did this with Christmas too. We celebrate the bunnies and the stockings too, but we always let our kids know what is true and what is pretend. They seem to be sorting it all out without any difficulties.
Rebekah
Good post, Jen! We rarely do Easter baskets, not because I am opposed to them, but because the grandparents bestow gifts on the kids already and I don't want every holiday to be all about stuff. This year, though, I did get small gifts for the kids. And I am excited to give them to them!
I typically try to read the Biblical story of the holiday as it approaches, but this year that hasn't happened so much. I am finding joy in remembering that even when I don't do things like that, it is okay.
I like what CarrieM shared about using traditions, like eggs, to remember those believers who have gone before and who have passed traditions down through the ages. What a good reminder.
I do teach in public school. We are allowed to teach the real reason for Easter and Christmas as long as we don't exclude other religions and their celebrations. We still have Santa and the Easter bunny and do a unit call Christmas around the World. I also taught the meaning of St. Patrick's day. I can just usually make a comment and the students that are Christian are happy to share. However, I teach is a small town that has mostly Christian churches. Not a lot of diversity here.
Nana
Is it bad if I say, "Amen"? :)
Excellent! I'm linking to this post next year.
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