I have friends who are pagan. It’s okay, really, they are good people and they celebrate Easter too! In fact, they are the original celebrants of Easter. Oestra was and is a pagan holiday. It is a celebration of the renewal of life throughout the earth. I think my pagan friends have gotten something right.
What they have gotten right is to celebrate all of the earth and all living things. We, in the Christian church, have gotten completely absorbed by Christ being resurrected, we have forgotten the real message: we are all resurrected. Each of us is eternal and cannot die. Jesus himself, before being the resurrected Christ, pointed out that the Hebrew scripture said we are all gods. This matters, it recognizes that each of us is made to live a resurrected life.
Bunny rabbits and eggs? Have you not wondered why those are part of this day? Because they both represent reproduction, renewal, life itself. And why chocolate? Because this new life should taste sweet to us. It should make our hearts happy. And an Easter egg hunt for the kids? We must teach the little ones to seek life, every day. To look for the little signs of life. And all of those colors? Every life has its own beautiful color. Every life is joyous……if we will see it the way God sees life.
You thought this was just a day to go to sunrise services, dress in your very best Easter clothes, and go to a nice lunch. The Western church has taken the joy out of Easter. We have been taught that it is all about the Christ and about our escape from hell. It is so very much more than that. It is a celebration of every life, every living thing. So my pagan friends can teach us all…..celebrate life, every single day. Celebrate the life in our good Earth (Gaia) and in every animal, every tree, flower and yes, the person next to you in the pew and in the line in the grocery store.
Early on the first day of the week, do what I did this day: go outside and let the birds sing an Easter chorus for you, while the living earth paints the picture of life anew. If you will listen closely, you will hear that “still, small voice”.
TMM