Resurrection Day

"He is risen!"  "He is risen, indeed!"  What a marvelous way to greet this morning, traditionally called "Easter" in the United States.  It makes sense to me that many American Christians are choosing to call the day "Resurrection Day" rather than "Easter."  After all, the word "Easter" is derived from the name of an ancient goddess of  fertility, or of spring, called Eostre in German.  She was also known as Ishtar in Assyria, Astarte in Greece, Ashtoreth in Israel, and Ostara in Norway.  You'll notice that all of those names sound much like our English word, Easter.  Only in English is this Christian day of celebration called "Easter."  In most other languages, the name of the day is based on the Hebrew word for Passover, Pesach.

Even our American custom of dying and hiding Easter eggs is rooted in the ancient pagan tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring and the accompanying new life.  Apparently, Christians long ago took the attitude of "if you can't beat them, join them," adapting the pagan customs and making them their own.   Springtime is a wonderful time to celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection, because the new life all around us alludes to the new life that only Jesus can give.  Since Jesus is the ultimate giver of new life, we have much reason to celebrate. The danger, in our country, is that secular Easter celebrations threaten a return to the ancient custom of celebrating the arrival of spring, while leaving out any mention of the One who made and sustains all life here on Earth, and who died and rose again so that those who believe in Him may live with Him forever.

We have great fun at our house every spring, dying eggs on the Saturday before Easter, and hiding them outside so the littlest children can find them before dinner on Sunday.  However, even the tiniest children in our family know the Good News of Jesus' death and resurrection.  We enjoy preparing and sharing a terrific meal on this day with our whole family.  Family times like these are important.  But the best part of Resurrection Day is worshiping together with our church family, joining together in praise of the One who made the supreme sacrifice for all of us, and who lives and reigns forever.

"He is risen!"  "He is risen, indeed!"  Alleluia!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Three Weddings and Too Many Funerals

Image
It's been fifteen years since my middle daughter, Meagan, married Andy. Fifteen years of living and working in and around Gering, and five, almost six, children later, everyone they know would say that they are happily married. Their wedding was big and formal, and held in our church, like many weddings were then, at least here in Gering, with a sit-down dinner and dance afterward at the Civic Center. They both grew up here, and were well-known in the community, so many local people attended their wedding. In addition, they each had large extended families who were willing to travel quite a distance to be present for their big day. It was a memorable day, for sure. Fifteen years ago, our family was quite small. They both settled in to teaching, living in an old house on Andy's family's farm before building a house at the same location about ten years ago. Now, Andy continues to teach at Gering High School, while Meagan has been focusing her teaching skills on her own childr
Read more

Introducing Anna

Image
Anna Elizabeth Tyler was born almost three weeks before her due date, at 10:53 a.m. on Monday, October 30th, 2023, in Columbus, Ohio. She weighed 5.45 pounds, and was 17.25 inches long. Her entrance into this world was more dramatic than we had hoped, since she had to spend eleven days in the NICU to monitor her breathing. But, after the initial scare, she is nursing well and growing appropriately at home. Anna at just a few days old Anna is the only one of our eight grandchildren who has spent any time in NICU. At one month of age, she is still small, but she is finally outgrowing her preemie clothes and moving on to newborn sizes. It's hard to be more than 1200 miles away from family when they need help, but contemporary forms of communication make that much easier than it used to be. Nevertheless, Bill and I were glad to join our daughter, Erin, her husband, Reed, our grandson, Will, and baby Anna, for Thanksgiving. We got to see for ourselves how their whole family is thriving.
Read more

A Little Covid

Image
Like so many of you, I am tired of hearing about Covid-19. As I look back to 2020 and the intervening years since then, I can't help but think that our government, along with many others throughout the world, may have overreacted, insisting on too many, perhaps unnecessary, restrictions. However, the fact remains that I am currently quarantined at home because, for the first time, I officially have Covid. I would never have known I have Covid except that it morphed into a sinus infection. So, I dutifully made my way to Urgent Care because I knew I would need an antibiotic to get over it. And, of course, I had to have a test to rule out Covid and Influenza A. Except, even though my vaccinations are up-to-date, the test was positive for Covid. My Covid symptoms have been minimal, probably because I’ve been vaccinated: some fatigue, some sneezing, and a headache that won't quit. Initially, I passed off those symptoms as my normal allergy symptoms, aggravated by the windy condition
Read more