Easter…
Easter has arrived. This is a very important time for Christians all over the world. Not only are we celebrating The Gospel (death, burial and resurrection) of Jesus, we are doing it at a historically relevant and accurate time. It is not just a tradition that had arbitrarily set a date for this event, we know it happened at Passover and thanks to the Jewish calendar we know when Passover occurs. We can even trace that calendar back and if we knew the exact year of Jesus’ death, we could determine the Roman calendar date, as well. Although, the importance of Easter to Christianity is obvious, the time and energy that different groups in Christendom spend in observance of this holiday varies greatly. I grew up in one extreme, Easter is Easter Sunday. You get up, put on your new clothes, go to church to be reminded of Jesus’ resurrection form the dead and then go find the candy. The other extreme begins the Easter Season on Ash Wednesday. The time between Ash Wednesday and Easter is referred to as Lent. Depending on your church affiliation this time of “fasting” could last anywhere from 1 to 50 days. The specifics of the practice of Lent are better left to another discussion. My point is this I think there is a happy medium that should be found between these extremes. I am aware of the church of Christ’s autonomy, our avoidance of creeds and our history of an individual faith experience. I also am aware that for many of our children Easter is first a time to hunt for candy and later a possible thought of Jesus. So how do we remedy this apathy? Liturgy and mandatory fasts are not a part of our faith experience or tradition and therefore they are not adequate or realistic examples to follow. I am left with a thought of self-sacrifice, a giving of one’s self in a sacrificial way, as to reflect the life saving sacrifice of Jesus. There is no specific length to this exercise, you may give up a favorite food or you may choose to sacrifice a physical work by giving it for charity. If you choose to do this exercise, please do not do it to meet “religious requirements”, do it as way to draw yourself spiritually closer to God.
