And happy Easter

A happy and blessed Easter to all who celebrate it.

One thing I miss a little, that doesn't seem to be done as much any more, are sunrise services. I know some places still do them, but they don't seem as common around here. (Which is funny, because I remember as a kid growing up in Ohio, for a number of years we went to one. And late March or early April in Ohio can be cold, especially first thing in the morning). But there always was something special about them, especially hearing about the women going to the tomb early in the morning....

Church was always something we did. It was the most important part of Easter though I admit as I child I probably looked forward to my Easter basket more....we usually got to glance at them before going to church and then really look at them after we got home. Most years there was some small toy in addition to the candy and I admit I preferred to get a small toy but less candy....We also had dyed eggs that were hidden and that we hunted for and I now cringe to think of those boiled eggs sitting out all the time we were at church, but no one ever seemed to get sick. (I mostly didn't like hard boiled eggs as a kid - I would eat the white but not the yolks; it was a "texture thing" I think. I like boiled eggs fine now).

One year we didn't find one of them and my parents must have been tired because it was later on that day the cat alerted us to the egg sitting out! (That one got thrown out)

We never really did the giving-something-up-for-Lent though I know a lot of my classmates gave up chocolate or sodas or whatever, and then they got to have them again on Easter. (Some years we did vegetarian meals on Good Friday, and my mother tells me that HER mother wouldn't eat meat on Good Friday, "out of respect," even though they were Congregationalists and so, didn't do a lot of the more formal traditions)

Two other Good Friday thoughts: Knowing what I know of humanity as an adult - and knowing what I know of my way of reacting to things - I suspect many of us, had we been in that crowd, would have been those screaming "Crucify him!" Perhaps even me, as much I'd prefer to imagine myself in the role of Martha or one of the other quiet, loving woman-followers.

And also, the most harrowing Good Friday service I was ever at was one where the minister read a physiologist's (a medical doctor) account of what would have happened, medically, during the crucifixion...and yes, as hard as it is to hear, if that's your faith path, I think you need to hear it sometimes, just to remember.

(There's a rather startling - both because of the subject matter and because of the violence - anime out there called My Last Day which is an account of Good Friday largely from the thief's perspective. Startling, because I didn't think Christianity was much in Japan, but from the fact that it looks dubbed, I suspect it was made there (Or maybe I'm wrong). I suppose the violence SHOULDN'T startle me, a lot of anime is violent, and you cannot recount the events of Good Friday without showing at least some of the violence...and of course the thief is meant to represent us.)

Now, as an adult, church is the important thing for me of the day. I usually try to make a slightly more special or elaborate meal (this year I am doing salmon loaf, and I made a lemon poundcake today to have for dessert). I usually take the afternoon off as well (Though that's usual for Sundays for me; I figure working five and a half or six days a week is more than enough.)

I hesitate to post this because some might think it a little, I don't know, flippant for what is THE most important Christian holiday, but it was cute and anyway, you see bunnies and chicks everywhere as more "secular" remembrances of the season. This is from Gray--Day on DeviantArt:

Drawn in a traditional Polish folk outfit, with a basket of decorated eggs.