Happy Easter, he is risen

It's Easter 2017, can you believe it? I don't even know what to say to this! I look back on all the years with my kids and I noticed last week that I spent a lot of time prepping for this day. Eggs to color, eggs to fill, CANDY, baskets, decorations, food and toys. I even went above and beyond to make bunny feet trails by our front door to the kid's baskets. This just seemed insane to me. Like why would I spend more time preparing gifts for my children than I would actually teaching them the Christian meaning of today? This year, I bought nothing. Seems extreme right? I know, a part of me feels bad because everyone else around them is getting gifts and they are left with nothing but an idea of Christ. This was important to me. More than the idea of a fake bunny leaving colored eggs and baskets for children. I'm not sure why this year it became clear to me because last year, I was the bunny. Lol, not a good sight! Somewhere in between I realized I didn't even know what I was celebrating. I knew my children felt the same. For months I have been asking around and Google just didn't seem appropriate. Its hard to weed out blogs and beliefs. Of course, to some, Christ is just an opinion so that made the search also difficult to understand what Easter was really about and also why it changes dates every year. That one was kind of cool to discover. I've always wondered, not just with Easter but other changing holidays as well, how they get dates chosen. Easter specifically rotates dates between March-April. The date is predicted around the Jewish Passover, which is traditionally on the first full moon following the vernal equinox. The church had stated they would use the 14th day of the lunar month and host Easter on the following Sunday. Christ had died around the Jewish Passover which is why Easter follows this path. The date of the moon needs to be determined before Easter can be given an accurate date.

Christians celebrate Easter on Sunday because that is the day Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified just two days before. A council of Christian bishops decided the Easter day would always be a Sunday to commemorate a happy occasion. Easter customs differ around the world, some include sunrise services, clipping the church, exclaiming the Paschal greeting and decorating Easter eggs which symbolizes Jesus's empty tomb. Christians and non-Christians also egg hunt, Easter parades and include an Easter bunny. We like to go overboard! The Easter lily is a symbol of the resurrection and traditionally decorates the chancel area of the churches on this day and for the rest of Eastertide. Did you know that most Christians refer to the week before Easter as "Holy Week" it includes the days of Easter Triduum, Maundy Thursday (commemorating the Maundy and Last Supper) as well as Good Friday (commemorating the crucifixion and death of Jesus).

One belief is that Easter is derived from the Goddess of Spring called Eostre who some worshipped before Jesus was even born. It was thought that the sun died in winter and was born again in spring when days would last longer and the sun's power would return. In Europe, Eostre was honored as the bringer of Spring. Umm, is this cool or what? This Goddess is believed to be connected with love and fertility.

I think history of any kind is pretty interesting but I think its strange that we celebrate with a bunny but then again as a child I never complained! As a Christian, I will take this opportunity to teach my children and hope they will find it in their hearts as they grow, to choose what is right for themselves. I hope you are blessed today, Happy Resurrection day, I mean Easter.

#easter #God #Risen #April #Heisrisen