Easter sucks

Easter sucks: Got your attention?

No, really... it does. I'm known to rant and rave about Christmas and how it's gone from celebrating Jesus' birth to some mythical story about a fat old man in a red suit who delivers whatever children want to houses at midnight on Dec. 25. But Easter -- WAY worse.

Read the following from a column I wrote in my paper a year ago:

While some people think the name “Easter” refers to the rising of the sun in the east – which is symbolic of the Christian holiday in that it represents the first sunrise after Jesus’ resurrection – some historians believe it refers to a pagan goddess worshipped in Europe centuries before Christ. People honored the goddess, named Eostre (pronounced EE-ah-tra), with festivals at the end of March celebrating the end of winter and the birth of spring – the equinox. Eostre was the goddess of choice for fertility … we’ll get to that later.
The Easter Bunny, unlike Santa Claus, doesn’t have any roots in Christianity – there’s no St. Bunny of Madrid or Holy Bunny of the Resurrection. Long ago, hares and rabbits served as symbols of abundant new life in the spring season. The thing is, the bunny should have actually been a hare, since hares were a symbol for the moon, and the first full moon after the vernal equinox determines the date for Easter. Sorry, a bunny wouldn’t cut it.
One legend states that the Easter bunny was actually a large, handsome bird belonging to Eostre, before she magically changed her pet into a hare. Because the Easter Bunny is still a bird at heart, he continues to build a straw nest and fill it with eggs.

There's so much more to it, but you'll have to check out the whole piece HERE. It's good reading.

Anyway... I guess I'm tired of calling it Easter anymore. I saw our former Senior Pastor, Ted Roberts, backstage today before I performed a skit for church, and I shook his hand and said, "Happy Easter, Ted!" I felt like such a heel when he replied, "Happy Resurrection Day." He's so right. That's the perspective! We're not celebrating some pagan ritual, handsome bird or even new clothes... we're celebrating Jesus and his resurrection! There should be no question as to what we're celebrating this one Sunday a year (and really, every day of our lives).

Easter sucks because it dilutes the greatest event in human history, the most amazing triumph in the universe! Jesus lives! Easter is just a passing children's ritual; Resurrection Sunday is a party! I'll tell you what, on that holiday, when my children come of age, we won't do bunnies or eggs or anything like that... we'll give each other gifts that will help our walk and will enrich our relationship. New life... that's what Resurrection Sunday is all about!

SO with that in mind, Happy Resurrection Sunday, everyone!