Happy Easter

This is Easter Weekend. For Christians, this is the big deal. Bigger than Christmas.

Of course, if one is a devout atheist or other non-believer, Easter might be a time to express your opinion on the “mass hysteria” that grips those who call themselves Christians, and argue the relevance of the “fictional accounts” of the Bible.

You know what? If you don’t believe, I’m fine with that. Neither of us will convince the other to abandon our positions and switch sides, so to speak.

If you’re not into Easter as a religious holiday, that’s okay. Enjoy the long weekend.

Whether one is a believer or not, though, you can’t help but like Easter, if for no other reason than the chocolate!

And after all, it’s one of the best signs of SPRING!!. Yes, sometimes Easter falls in March, rather than April [Easter falls on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the March 21 vernal equinox, which puts it somewhere between 22 March or 25 April.] and while the snow may not be gone in March (or even April), Spring is certainly very much welcome by all.

Spring, a time of new life, rebirth, and renewal.

Many people make a big deal about New Years. Regular readers will know that I don’t see the fuss about New Year’s – an arbitrary point in time, in the middle of a dark cold winter. The calendar may say it’s a “new year,” and many people believe it is time for new beginnings and making resolutions, but I find it hard to get too excited about much in the middle of winter.

Spring, however, is a time of change. New life abounds: bulbs poke up through the soil, buds form on the trees, and birds return and begin nesting.

This is, to me, a more appropriate time for making resolutions, and for seeking to make changes in one’s life. Granted, any time is the right to make a change, if that change is necessary. But, if one has been contemplating change, then Spring is as good a time as any to do so.

Easter is all about change.

As with most holy-days (holidays), Easter has its roots in pre-Christian paganism.

Even the name itself – Easter – is derived from the name Eostre, an Anglo-Saxon maiden-goddess of fertility. This name of this goddess appears to be even older, as the Latin name "Oestre" derives from the Greek, and has as it root a word that means "frenzy" – perhaps referring to, as the wise owl in Bambi described it, the springtime ritual of “Twitterpation.”

Consider the symbols of Easter – most of which were pagan symbols that pre-date Christianity:

• the egg, a symbol of fertility and new life, and new beginnings
  
• the rabbit, again a symbol of fertility, and of the goddess Oestre
  
• the lily, and other spring flowers also symbolize new life, and new beginnings
  

Our pagan ancestors held many rituals related to Spring, including festivals of light, sunrise worship, and rituals to encourage the growth of crops.

Naturally these were adapted and adopted by first the Roman Church, and later the Christian church, as they spread across the known world – Europe, for the most part.

It is these traditions that were brought with the early settlers and later emigrants to North America, which would in time become crass and commercialized, but still the basis of our Springtime celebrations.

But as always, the only constant has been change.

Today, we are free to choose how we celebrate Easter.

We can take a secular approach, and see it merely as another small-h holiday, when shops are closed and families gather for a festive meal.

We might choose a more religious inclination, attending Good Friday and Easter Morning worship services, commemorating Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection; a festive family gathering and meal typically included at some point during the weekend.

Perhaps we will find our own happy medium, attending church services on Sunday out of a sense of duty (commenting that every time we attend church there are bunches of flowers on the Chancel steps), but mostly just enjoying an extra long weekend with family.

It doesn’t matter. Really.

I know, there are people on both sides of the issue that get their knickers in a twist: atheists tired of having religion “shoved in their faces” and believers decrying the decay of “traditional values.”

For me, I find comfort in the traditions of my faith, and I am quite willing to share my beliefs with others. But, if someone doesn’t want to hear about it, then that’s their choice. I would hope that people on both sides of the issue could adopt a similar live-and-let-live attitude.

What’s more important is that we just learn to get along. We need to find, and stick to, some common ground, and avoid the squabbling and bickering.

Whether you believe Jesus was born, lived, was crucified and was resurrected, or that he was simply a wise prophet and teacher, or that he was a fictional creation used as an illustration for moral teachings, I think we can all agree on and share in the teachings attributed to him:

Love your neighbour as yourself. Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.

I think the world would be a far better place if we could all just follow that simple message.

But… that’s just my opinion.

Happy Easter

~ David