Bunnies, Resurrection and Chocolate
By: Jess Gill
To many it means a day to paint, hide and frantically search for the Easter Bunny’s eggs. A day for baskets filled to the brim with chocolates and candies. Then you are off to visit relatives for family time and cheesy pictures with cousins you only see a few times a year.
Easter has different meanings to everyone. According to timeanddate.com, many groups of people organized spring festivals in Pagan times. Many of these celebrated the re-birth of nature – the return of land to fertility and the birth of many young animals. The eggs symbolize the re-birth and new life associated with the spring season, explaining the origins of the Easter eggs that we still hunt for and eat today.
In Christian beliefs, the spring started to be associated with Jesus Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The crucifixion is remembered on Good Friday while the resurrection is remembered on Easter Sunday. The idea of the resurrection joined with the ideas of re-birth in Pagan beliefs.
This illustrates the influence of Pagan traditions on Christian holidays, specifically Easter.
When asking CCO(Christian Coalition Outreach) Campus Minister Natalie Daratony what Easter means to her, she said Easter means that she serves, loves and lives for a King who is currently alive and still reigning. She said, “Easter means that every spec of the world still has hope to be all that it was always meant to be and that we, as humans, still have the opportunity to be healed from of our hurts and saved from of our wrongs because Jesus is alive.”
To her Easter means she can celebrate and remember that Jesus, the man of her affections and all power to give her life, is finally alive once again and still as ever-active as always giving life to all things.
When asked if her family had any traditions, Daratony said her family did not have any, besides attending a Church service at Easter.
Recalling a fond memory from her childhood, she says, “One year when I was young, my mom tore up cotton balls all over the house and said my dog attacked the Easter bunny’s tail while we were sleeping!”
Easter for many is a time to reflect on their faith and the importance of it in their lives. It is also a time for families to come together and celebrate the season of new-life that spring brings.
Some of you will be at home this Easter with loved ones to celebrate and others will remain on campus. In either case, celebrate this season and enjoy your days in the warm spring weather.
Pictured above is a palm leaf used on the day known as Palm Sunday, a day important to the Christian faith, tied into a cross to represent the crucifixion of Christ.
http://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/us/easter-sunday