Easter

Happy Easter to everyone. Easter day is the Commemoration of the Resurrection of Jesus, with its promise of eternal life. I have been going to church all my life and Easter, like Christmas has always been one of my happiest family times. As I have grown older Resurrection Sunday take on greater meaning.This year though I asked myself what is this thing called Easter? Where did it come from? What's up with the bunny and the eggs?

I found out that Easter comes from a pagan festival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eastre. When the second-century Christian missionaries encountered the tribes of the north with their pagan celebrations, they attempted to convert them to Christianity. It would have been suicide for the very early Christian converts to celebrate their holy days with observances that did not coincide with celebrations that already existed. As it happened, the pagan festival of Eastre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ. It made sense, therefore, to alter the festival itself, to make it a Christian celebration as converts were slowly won over. The early name, Eastre, was eventually changed to its modern spelling, Easter.

Rabbits are reminder of spring and new life. They were the favorite animal of the spring goddess Eastre. So that's where the rabbit came from. Eggs are a symbol of spring as well as Easter. They are a sign of new life.As kids we went on Easter egg hunts to fine colorful eggs for our baskets. Later we stopped doing the egg hunting thing and just got thee baskets from the store with  candy and chocolate eggs already in them.  The lily was a reminder to the Christians of how Jesus came back to life. The white Easter Lily is used in many Easter services. It is supposed to be a symbol of the purity of the Virgin Mary. And probably the fortieth time I watched Charleston Heston play Moses in the Ten Commandments the night before Easter.

Today is a day to review our lives and renew our commitment to Jesus Christ. To remember what Easter is really about. Let's open our hearts to God,who is not just with us at church and on these holidays, but walks with us everyday on the common roads of life.