Friday, April 22, 2011

Easter or Resurrection Day?

So the last few weeks everyone is gearing up for Easter or Resurrection Day.  But what do you call it?  I have been bombarded with emails, post cards, facebook posts and the like all of which giving their argument for one or the other. This makes me ponder if it really matter what I call it as I have four children that I am teaching daily the ways of the Lord. Am I doing them a dis-service by not labeling it correctly?  
I have done the research and know where the origins of the "easter" celebration came from.  I also know that the Christians used these pagan ritual days to mask their own church services so they could worship the Lord of Lords without persecution.  
I see both sides of the coin and I see merit in both. 
After discussing it with my husband we came to the conclusion that we are raising children to love the Lord our God with all their heart, soul and mind.  We have seen fruit from our oldest two in their attempt to follow the Lord.  We have also seen them face many persecutions from other children for making the right choice.  As such we are going to focus on what Easter is all about for a Christian.  We are not going to mince over words and rituals that would further the persecution. Thus setting them up to not be able to be the light to our neighborhood as they would be outcasts. 
We do not believe in the Easter Bunny but we do hunt eggs and afterward we go through the Resurrection story finding the empty one last for the empty tomb.  Our children will not feel they are missing "greener grasses" and long to not have that which they do not, we hope.  
That being said, I pray that those who celebrate a traditional Easter or those who celebrate a Resurrection Day can see and appreciate one another.  For as long as we are celebrating a Savior who died on the cross and rose again three days later we are celebrating the same thing. No matter how we choose to steep our traditions.  

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