The Celebration of Easter

Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the Spring Equinox. It is a time of joy and happiness, when most of us get together with family and friends to celebrate and rejoice, search for dyed eggs, cook traditional Easter dinners, and have fun in the presence of our loved ones. 

For most people, Easter means coloring eggs and participating in the traditional Easter morning egg hunt. To color eggs you can hard boil them, or blow out the eggs using a needle. Poke a small hole in the narrow end of the egg and a slightly larger hole in the other end. Then, holding the egg over a bowl, blow through the small hole, forcing the egg out the larger hole and into the bowl. Just rinse with cold water and dye. To decorate, you can buy an Easter egg decorating kit that comes complete with everything you need to decorate Easter eggs, or you can put food coloring and water with a teaspoon of vinegar into bowls.

Another alternative for the Easter egg hunt is to use plastic eggs. You can fill the eggs with candy, money, toys, or whatever you choose. The nice thing about having plastic eggs is that the kids never know what they’re going to find inside, making it a nice surprise. You can hide the eggs in the house or in the yard and let the kids go look for them. You want to hide the eggs where the kids can find them, but you don’t want to make it too easy. Don't hide them up high or in plain sight.

For Christians, Easter is a very important holiday. It celebrates the story of how Jesus Christ took on the sins of the world, and gave his life for those who are willing to accept the gift of eternal life. Jesus died on the cross, rose again three days later and ascended into heaven, just as he promised he would. In this way, He absolved believers of their sins.

The Easter Bunny and the colored eggs come into it from pagan traditions. The goddess of spring was accompanied by a hare, a symbol of fertility and renewal. Pagan families would tell their children that the magic hare would come deliver gifts to them on this special day. The magic hare would deliver gifts symbolic of new life, like hand painted eggs.

In Germany, children would make nests of grass in their yard, and the Easter bunny would drop off colorful eggs and candy in their “baskets.” This tradition came to America as German immigrants settled here, though it has changed somewhat since then.

Whether you’re Christian or not, Easter is when family gets together. That’s what it should be about. Easter is a time to get together with family and friends over festive lunches and dinners to celebrate love and Springtime.