Neglected Easter

In the agricultural calendar, no much is happening in the dark of winter.

In spring, crops need sowing, tools need repairing, animals are having babies.

Furthermore come March and April, stored food supplies are running low after a long winter.

I think Easter is celebrated as Christmas should be within the Christian community. Christmas gets big play in the media and what not simply because of the gift giving that has become associated with it. I mean, gift giving is big business. And after all, who wouldn't want to run out and buy a gift in celebration of a birth?

Easter however is the remembrance of a death followed by the celebration of a resurrection. Yet while most of the world will willingly go along with celebrating a child's birth, they aren't quite as quick to accept the resurrection as fact, thus nobody gets behind the celebratory aspect of Easter.

Hope the above makes some sense. I don't think I've expressed my thoughts very clearly, but I'm too lazy to change what I have typed.

Interesting--the commercialization of Christmas is feasting and frivolity.

After a long winter, Easter focuses on new clothes. This tradition is less important than it used to be since shopping is year-round recreation.

mmm hmmm..understand that...

however, it's made me wonder over the years if the whole notion of religious significance of certain days has been more lip service than anything.

Christmas, the religious christians and even those who are moderately or even minimally religious with a leaning toward christianity acknowledges Christmas is a celebration of the birth of the savior of the world....hence, much merriment, spending of money for gifts, parties galore, all with the knowledge of what is at the center of it. Of course for the moderately or minimally religious, the Festivus aspect is more in the fore, but, they would readily acknowledge the christian component.

Speaking of the savior of the world....next comes the days in which the whole promise comes true! By George, he's done it! It was said someone would come and save us all, and here is the defining moment!


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and all we do is get a basket of candy, and a new pastel dress.

Even Halloween (I know, harvest time, time of plenty) is celebrated more, and my christians everywhere, even though this is a holiday based on nefarious intent.

dammit, if we can go into debt over a baby being born, why aren't we buying flat screen TV's over rising from the dead?

Now that's cause for a present.

squinney and I were just talking about this at lunch.

zat least with christmas there's a slight connection between the ommerical and the religious. Giving of gifts (wise men/santa)

WTF does a bunny who lays eggs.... multicolored eggs at that have to do with the resurrection of christ?

Coastal Rat.

Please be perfectly honestly....think about this before you answer.

During your life, up to today, which day, overall, have you more felt like leaping out of bed, running downstairs and gathering together with family and friends, proclaiming the meaning of the day? Which day is your soul more filled with gladness over the glory of God? Which day have you looked forward to with more spritual anticipation?

Coincides with pagan celebrations of Spring fertility.

WTF does a Christmas tree have to do with Jesus being born?

Same difference.

I understand it's significance and how pagan traditions were blended with christian traditions to keep order and the tithes coming in....all I'm saying is it's easier to make a connection between secular and non secular christmas than it is easter...

Really?

Chistian is Risen?

Rebirth of the Earth?

Persephone coming up from Hades to Visit her mom Ceres once a year, and mother is so happy the grass and **** grows?

OI was speaking of the physical way the holidays are celebrated... can you connect the easter bunny to rebirth... christ rising...persephone and **** growing? One could perhaps use the argument that it's all become a bunch of **** anyway I suppose...

Yeah DAMMIT I CAN connect the two.

Sheese!

Christ rises from the dead. A miracle

All this dead grass mysteriously starts growing again. A miracle

Ceres a goddess, waves her hands and stuff that's been dead all winter comes back to life. A miracle

Rabbits start having babies all over the place. Maybe people didn't watch the bunnies going at it as often as they noticied a whole bunch of the little puff tails suddenly appearing out of nowhere. Not a miracle but they weren't being born in the dead of winter.




What, in Christmas, besides tying in the gifts of the magi, to gift giving today, relates to Jesus being born.

Boughes of holly?
Trees and ornaments?
Not to mention nut crackers....don't get me started.

Easter is pure Pagan. I did some cut and paste cyber-plagerism to save myself the time of writing this up, but here is Easter 101:

German pagans named the Spring Equinox after Ostara, their goddess of spring, fertility, and rebirth. In England, among the Anglo-Saxon tribes, Ostara was known as Eostre. The modern holiday of Easter is derived from the name "Eostre" and the associated myths.

Ostara's magical companion was a rabbit who accompanied her as she brought new life to dying plants and flowers by hiding the eggs in the fields. The bright yellow yolk of eggs was seen as a representation of the sun and rebirth.

As Spring is the season of nature's rebirth, the symbol of the egg was of course particularly significant at this time. The Druids dyed eggs scarlet to honor the Sun, and Pagan Anglo-Saxons made offerings of their colored eggs to the Goddess Eostre. They also (like many Pagan cultures before them) placed patterned eggs in tombs or on fresh graves, to ensure the rebirth of the deceased.

The custom of eating hot cross buns is also said to have Pagan origins. The Saxons ate buns that were marked with a cross in honor of Eostre. The ancient Greeks also consumed these types of buns in their celebrations of Artemis, Goddess of the hunt (known as Diana to the Romans). And the Egyptians ate a similar cake in their worship of the Goddess Isis.

Even the idea of getting new clothing is older than Christianity. People spent much of the cold season inside weaving and spinning from wool gathered in the fall. By spring the clothing was ready to be worn.

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I once learned in a business class that the best way to be successful was to copy other people's success, but change it enough to make it your own. Early Christians were masters of this strategy.

An honest answer? As if I would give anything but. Above you got the short answers. Now you have to put up with a longer version. As a child I was certainly more excited about Christmas. After all, Christmas meant gifts and Easter meant dressing up. Yuck. As an adult, our Christmas celebration is rather low key. While I do look forward to it, it is definately a different celebration than when I was young, simply because I see past the gifts and I have taught my children to see past them also.

As far as leaping out of bed, running downstairs (difficult since I have no upstairs at my house) and gathering and proclaiming the meaning of the day, I would certainly not disagree that Christmas has that atmosphere while Easter does not. But I think so much of that is indoctrinated into us from childhood because of the anticipation of receiving gifts.

Maybe it is just a matter of not knowing how to celebrate. After all, we've all celebrated births over the years and we do so with gifts. We anticipate greatly the blessed day that a child comes into the world. It is the familiar and we are accustomed to happily celebrating it. The resurrection of Christ was a one time thing that we will not see again. While we celebrate it (at least we do in the church I attend), there is less anticipation because we don't really know how to celebrate a resurrection.

Still not sure if this makes any sense. In all honesty, the question of why Christmas is so celebrated while Easter is less so should make any Christian pause to reflect as to why. The completion of Christ's redemptive work should have us singing praises and really raising the roof off our homes.

They still are Green Witch, they still are.

More recently, they've taken 6 Flags Atlantis, a rock concert and the run of the lemmings to the sea, and incorporated them into Mega Churches.

I mean, ya gotta be entertained in large groups to feel close to God, doncha?

None of this boring sitting in a quiet place and being still for me thanks.

Wonderful answer Coastal Rat.....this in a nutshell is what I've been getting at. Everyone, not just christians would do well to reflect on the "why's" of the things we do, that we just take for granted.


My comment above re the mega-churches...may sound abrasive, but, it's true.

Today, people want to be entertained. Go to events with special effects and lots of people, which leave no room for this reflection.

As I said somewhere in another post recently, people can't go from 100 miles per hour to a stand still in the blink of an eye. Well, they can if they hit a brick wall, but, obviously you wouldn't be doing much reflection after that. Unfortunately, I believe that's why a lot of people have so little balance in their lives, they keep crashing themselves into brick walls.

It takes time and contemplation to slow down and ease into that stillness, which for many it seems is just too much work, and boring.

I think because Christmas has become more a tradition and non-Christian holiday. Christians celebrate Christmas as well as those that do not believe in a religion.

Today, Christmas is really no longer just a Christian holiday, but even more so a holiday celebrated by almost everyone. In many cases or families, Santa is celebrated, not Jesus. In others both. I think it is a bigger holiday because it is celebrated as much as a holiday as a Christian holiday, whereas Easter is much more religious based.

Also, part of the gift giving, could be symbolic of the gifts given baby Jesus on his birth.

I do disagree that Halloween is celebrated more - the strictest Christians do not celebrate Halloween at all. Easter is usually a huge deal with most families I know (not as big as Christmas), but in a sense the second biggest holiday as far as celebration. And most children do get more than a basket of candy. Granted when I was a child, Christmas was a bigger deal than Easter, but I still would wake up excited to see what the Easter bunny left for me.

The Christmas tree is supposed to symbolize Christ in a sense. Saint Boniface chopped down the Donor Oak confronting old gods or some such thing. When he chopped the Oak, a fir tree was growing in the center claimed to be the first Christmas tree. Saint Boniface told the people that this lovely evergreen, with its branches pointing to heaven, was indeed a holy tree, the tree of the Christ Child, a symbol of His promise of eternal life. He instructed them henceforth to carry the evergreen from the wilderness into their homes and to surround it with gifts, symbols of love and kindness. Or as legend has it.

Although most of the traditions around these sorts of holidays, I honestly do not think they have much to do with religion - Santa (even though he is St. Nicholas, Easter Bunny, candy, lights, etc.) I think we kinda explain these traditions to some how fit the religious meaning.

On the other hand, what is wrong with celebrating the religious side and these other things that have no real meaning other than to make them more fun?

As far as Mega churches that is just a personal preference. Everyone has preferences and what appeals to them for difference reasons. I don't judge someone because they rather belong to a larger group or crowd - just what they like and feel more comfortable in. I don't see it as entertainment or not, just some like to be part of a large group and some prefer a smaller group. Me, I prefer the smaller churches, I feel lost in big churches.

Oh, I wouldn't say that. I don't know about the Protestants, but for us Catholics there is the whole period of Lent leading up to Easter, plus a busy mass schedule right before Easter.

I just went to mass tonight for Holy Thursday, then I'll go to mass tomorrow for Good Friday (we also fast on this day), attend a prayer service on Holy Saturday, and then Easter Sunday mass.

Hey now! That's a lotta church going! :wink:

Christmas is easy by comparison. You just attend mass on Christmas day (or Christmas eve, whichever you prefer) and that's it.



Well said, Coastal Rat. Just because Easter doesn't get as much media play doesn't mean it's neglected or not taken as seriously -- in fact, it seems to be just the opposite.

Interesting that the only date Christians are commanded to remember is not of Jesus' birth, which we do not know, nor his resurrection, but of his death.

The remembrance, which corresponds to the Passover, and which was recorded at Luke 22:19, would be observed this year after sundown on March 22.

As with nearly any celebration of religion, its entirely symbolic. Regardless of the spiritual symbolism of it all, its derived from astrological events.

I think for the believers holidays like easter and christmas are unifying and symbolic. The fact that non-believers join in the celebration is equally important. Its a day of human unification under one common social (if not religious) construct; love.

I don't think it matters a single bean to whatever higher power there is. I think that we all busy around trying to pinpoint dates and solstices. The bottom line is that we are humans and we have created human commonalities based around a unifying holiday. Let's have fun with them and celebrate the unity they provide.

I personally believe in god, but I'm not a christian. I still celebrate christmas and easter because christ was a pretty cool guy with a lot to teach. Plus, its a great way to get candy and gifts out of your relatives