As a child, Easter always played second fiddle to Christmas. Though the Easter bunny brought us a basket with some lollies, and magically hid the eggs we laboriously dyed the night before, Christmas was better. Santa, it seemed, had a bigger budget for gifts. Ask me my favourite holiday and I wouldn’t hesitate to answer, “Christmas!”
Growing up in a Christian home, both holidays have always included church services and a focus on the Biblical significance of the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. As a child though, I was much more attracted to the magic and mystery of the Easter bunny, the competitive family egg hunts, and the giant gourmet chocolate eggs my grandmother served for dessert, filled with maple creme nugget or fudge.
As an adult though, the tables have turned; Easter is now my favourite. Why? In a world flipped upside down, I find the Christian message of Easter more and more relevant and healing. While many will regard the death and resurrection of Christ as mythical as the Easter bunny, for me, it is a life-giving message of hope in the face of despair, life in the place of death, and victory where I once was defeated. I now look forward to this annual reminder and to feel my soul rise as the Church sings together “Christ the Lord is Risen Today!”
For my husband and I, covid-19 doesn’t actually change Easter that much. It was already going to be our first Easter separated from our families. It was already going to be a one-person egg hunt and my first year to get to select chocolate eggs of 70% cocoa or greater. And for us, the victorious message of Easter is exactly the same whether we can physically gather in a church or not.
How is Easter life-giving for you? Maybe it’s time spent connecting with family remotely. Perhaps it’s an early morning hike up Red Hill to enjoy the promise of a new day. It could be a moment of gratitude for all the gifts you have which you had no hand in bringing about. Though I suspect Easter means something different to you, I hope this post encourages you to think about the Biblical message of Easter and how you can build an unshakable hope in this shaken world.
