An Easter Reflection (and perhaps a bit controversial)
I grew up not celebrating the Easter Bunny and used to think I was somehow missing out on something important. I remember for the longest time being angry about it. The same went for Halloween and Santa Claus. But the older I get the more I appreciate having grown up under my mom’s convictions.
And I had to come into that understanding myself—after years of fighting it. Am I just being too conservative? Just a radical Christian?
But more I study who & what Eastre actually was (a pagan goddess of fertility who turned her bird into a bunny that laid colorful eggs for children) the more I am disheartened by how trivial this season has become—even in the Church.
• Churches dropping eggs from helicopters.
• Churches putting on egg ‘hunts’ consisting of tens of thousands of eggs.
• Churches celebrating with huge festivals and pictures with the Easter Bunny.
If the Church and the world are both engaged in the celebrating of eggs, candy and bunnies… who’s getting more play this weekend:
The Bunny or The Christ?
I understand Christians wanting to ‘take back’ Easter by bringing these customs into our churches. But are we belittling the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice while we do it?
I work with women everyday who struggle with pornography and sexual addiction. Easily one of the most shameful and secretive struggles faced by a Christian.
When you have the Church and their nearly silent stance on pornography as it affects men, paired with women in the congregation being the ones who are addicted, what you’re left with is a hot soup of silence, isolation and shame.
Who can they to turn to when the world says it’s okay, and the Church is silent?
Not the Easter Bunny. But to the One who came and died… and more importantly rose again so that they could live life abundantly…. not in shame. The gift of freedom freely given and a Hand of Grace to lift them up.
That’s a celebration I can get behind.
– –
Isaiah 54:5-6
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
Amen.
Ditto what Karen said :)
We participated in the secular traditions when the kids were little. It doesn’t bother me. They still get what it’s all really about. It doesn’t bother me for outreach purposes either.
I don’t mind it either, just as long as the Message doesn’t get lost… which I fear also happens too much on every other Sunday during the year.
And I had to come into this understanding myself—after years of fighting it and saying to my mom and others, “well when I grow up and have kids I am not going to crush their imagination!!” So dramatic I was/am. And as my own personal conviction began to come into play in regards to Santa, Easter Bunny and other make believe figures, I struggled with the thought: am I just being too conservative? Just a radical Christian?
I certainly don’t judge those who choose to participate in the traditions of Easter or any other holiday. To each their own. My greatest issue is how the Church responds to these cultural pressures and are we doing so in such a way that the Message is never lost or lessoned.
Crystal, 2 weeks ago Ana asked me why the symbol for Easter was a bunny… I googled it and found the same response! At that moment I wish I was like your mom! As far as your fear… In my home, at least, its all the other Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays that the Message doesn’t get lost! PS. Santa was probably a christian serving God by sharing with children less fortunate and I am so naive that I thought that the “Easter Bunny” resembled spring! ;)
Why is this place so biased, against truth. That’s cool just delete my posts