"Jesus was a Capricorn, he ate organic food"
I am, as those who know me well enough know well enough of me, not a christian soldier. I am what I would argue is an agnostic: an unknower, as I would put it, not to stir up any hornets' nests here.
It is my intent, instead, only to wish the very best to my christian friends on this particularly holy day.
For my part, I have some wonderment about how the birth of your savior can be of greater excitement, ritual, and even solemnity than his death and rising, when, after all, the man, the son of god, was not your son of god until Easter bore it out, at least for you and, admittedly, a host of others.
In my own upbringing, Christmas was always the greatest of the holidays (and still is, frankly, despite my agnosticism). In my upbringing, Christmas was a time of great celebration, of gift-giving, of church-going, of visiting with friends and family, a hectic time in the weeks leading up to the great day.
Of Easter, I remember, even in the times of our greatest stickling to the rituals of our faith, a somber, nearly sad occasion, despite the purported easter bunny and the eggs and the chocolate and the jelly beans and the little gooey chicks (no, not my girlfriends! I don't know what they are made of, but everybody knows what I mean when I say 'the gooey little chicks'!) (And I didn't mean I didn't know what my girlfriends were made of: they were made of sugar and spice and everything nice, of course, with one or two exceptions.)
I found this odd then, precocious little twerp that I was, and find it odd now, precocious little old twerp that I am. The birth of Jesus, to my way of thinking, has NOTHING on his willing (albeit it seems with some more or less great reluctantce at times,particularly in the most critical moment) crucifixion and the most important thing of all, his apparent metaphorical bus ticket back home to dad.
I DO understand that the birth of a Messiah should be a cause for great rejoicing, although, given his historic propensity for temple-rage, I'm not sure he would be all up for the commecialism of his birth. Even as I speak those words I can see him rampaging through a WallyWorld on Christmas Eve or even, more likely, gathering a host of federal angels to raid the offices of televangelists far and wide.
Even so, that event cannot be the cause for celebration among christians that this one should be. Or am I missing something? He was not your Messiah, after all, until he did his disappearing act, right? (And I am not making light of this, even if it sounds as though I am: this is how I write, really.)
I know about how Christmas was a cultural sort of sneak attack, wherein the christian proselytizers from Rome ultimately incorporated pagan ritual and dates into the holiday in order to bring in those pesky western Europeans. I am surprised that, beyond the easter bunny (fertility?) more was not done for this holiday as well.
I do recall that, as a boy, as a teen, I attended Christmas mass routinely, even without being compelled to do so by the wielding of a silver cross meant to sear my heart should I refuse. No, I wanted to wear cool new clothes and sit in the balcony and shoot spitwads onto the spiritual but bald heads of elderly male followers in the lower row. I do not recall the same insistence with respect to Easter and, again, I find that odd.
Lilies are solemn, I will allow. And the lesser commericialism, I will submit to that as well. Perhaps these are among a number of talismans that say "Easter IS more important."
Is it?
Happy Easter, my christian friends,
Joe
Comments
-
And a happy one to you and yours, Buckwirth!Buckwirth said:And Judas
Why is he so maligned? It seems he was the key to the resurrection,..
Happy Easter to all!
My thoughts on Judas:
In the Bible- John 21:20-24, when Peter asked Jesus about Judas, Jesus replied," If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me".
I feel that the Lord was teaching Peter, and us, about forgiveness. But most importantly, that when He returned, Judas would then be judged. Another fulfillment of Scripture. And what if Judas were to have accepted the Lord in the years to follow? Jesus would have embraced him once again. I wonder if he was aware that his betrayal of the Lord was the key?
Lucy0 -
Hi Joeluz del lago said:And a happy one to you and yours, Buckwirth!
My thoughts on Judas:
In the Bible- John 21:20-24, when Peter asked Jesus about Judas, Jesus replied," If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me".
I feel that the Lord was teaching Peter, and us, about forgiveness. But most importantly, that when He returned, Judas would then be judged. Another fulfillment of Scripture. And what if Judas were to have accepted the Lord in the years to follow? Jesus would have embraced him once again. I wonder if he was aware that his betrayal of the Lord was the key?
Lucy
I like your post. And yes, I believe Easter, the fact that He is risen, shoud be equally important and celebrated as His birth.
What an impact it must have been to see the tomb empty! Maybe more so than to see Him laying in a manger. I would have loved to have been in the crowd of people when the rumor was spreading like wildfire..."He is Risen!" I can tell you, I would have been the "Doubting Thomas".
I too was raised having to endure the "long" version of Mass, trying hard not to pull at my uncomfortable tights or knock my hat off my head. What kept me still was the fact that I knew there would be a basket with candy when I got home. That was pretty much my mentality about Easter growing up and well into adulthood.
For me, I have found out that the more I "seek", the more I do "find". This "Grace" of His is really out there.
As for Judas, I've thought about that too. I've even felt sorry for the guy that he did what he did. But, I get what Lucy posted regarding what Jesus said..."Mind your own business!" Which reminds me of another verse that says before I take the splinter out of someone's eye, I need to take the board out of my own...ugh.
Thanks for posting this, and Happy Easter to you and yours.
Sylvia0 -
Glad you liked itsea60 said:Hi Joe
I like your post. And yes, I believe Easter, the fact that He is risen, shoud be equally important and celebrated as His birth.
What an impact it must have been to see the tomb empty! Maybe more so than to see Him laying in a manger. I would have loved to have been in the crowd of people when the rumor was spreading like wildfire..."He is Risen!" I can tell you, I would have been the "Doubting Thomas".
I too was raised having to endure the "long" version of Mass, trying hard not to pull at my uncomfortable tights or knock my hat off my head. What kept me still was the fact that I knew there would be a basket with candy when I got home. That was pretty much my mentality about Easter growing up and well into adulthood.
For me, I have found out that the more I "seek", the more I do "find". This "Grace" of His is really out there.
As for Judas, I've thought about that too. I've even felt sorry for the guy that he did what he did. But, I get what Lucy posted regarding what Jesus said..."Mind your own business!" Which reminds me of another verse that says before I take the splinter out of someone's eye, I need to take the board out of my own...ugh.
Thanks for posting this, and Happy Easter to you and yours.
Sylvia
We had an outstanding time together this weekend, Sylvia, and I am hopeful that you, too, were surrounded by those you love and cherish.
Take care,
Joe0 -
Eastersoccerfreaks said:Glad you liked it
We had an outstanding time together this weekend, Sylvia, and I am hopeful that you, too, were surrounded by those you love and cherish.
Take care,
Joe
Joe, I'm late commenting here: my mom passed the morning after Easter and I've been recuperating, along with the rest of north Alabama.
You are correct in that Easter is the holiest of days for Christians, followed closely by Good Friday, odd as that may sound to non-believers who are unenlightened (unlike yourself .
Christmas is so commercialized I don't think it is fair to even bring the church into the fray when discussing why it gets so much attention.
Easter is THE day. Thank you for making the point Christians need to remember that.
Hugs, Joe.0
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