Prince Charming and I had been running around for a couple of days planning out our dinner and what we were going to put in the baskets. We had to get eggs to dye and treats to hide. Do we really need to buy more plastic eggs? Do we really want to do the powder "bunny dust" again? It was all a hullabaloo.
I was standing at the sink on Saturday night doing dishes when our yard man stopped by to talk to my husband about something going on with the lawn. When he left, Prince Charming wished him a Happy Easter. Our yard man is from Mexico and doesn't speak very good English, so he wasn't too sure what he was hearing. My husband put up two fingers on each hand and held them up behind his head.
"You know, Easter," he said. "Bunny. Hop hop."
"Oh, yaah, yaah....," replied the yard man kind of waving his hand like what he really wanted to say was, "I think I've seen that commercial. Weird..."
And it struck me, as I stood there scraping plates, that here we were planning out this big elaborate candy-filled extravaganza, complete with a new Wii game, a Fairy Secret doll, and a big prime rib dinner, and this guy basically didn't know what we talking about. What were we doing here?
The question kind of rolled around in my head some. Then, while we were watching the baseball game on TV, the announcers were talking about having all of their Easter finery pressed and ready for the morning. And it struck me again. This is a holiday that has nothing to do with chicks and eggs and chocolate bunnies, and everything to do with our civilizations belief in a story from the Book of Matthew. It's about church and prayer. It's about the Bible. And for a lot of people, it's about new clothes and pretty dresses and bonnets and new shoes. When I was a shoedog at Nordstrom, Easter was only second to the start of school in terms of people buying shoes for their kids. Church on Easter morning.
I've never really been a very religious person. I've never really gone to church. Truth be told, I more consider myself part of the congregation of the Church of the Sunday Paper. I know that I believe in the power of God, but I really don't know or understand the history of God. I have a Bible. Two actually. One is newer and was given to me by my parents when I graduated from high school, I think. The other is quite old and belonged to my great-grandmother. She read it cover to cover hundreds of times over the course of her life. She cherished it. She believed in it. She lived it. She used it to record the births and deaths and those she loved, including her husband and one of her daughters. It is an heirloom in my family, that I'm sure one of my brothers would gladly Indian wrestle me for. And yet, it sits on the shelf over my bed, nestled in between my photography manuals and the latest novels I'm working through, and I most often forget that it's there.
Being that it was Easter, and I was feeling so conflicted about the meaning of what were doing, I decided to pull it down and read the Easter story. I had to start by Googling "Easter Story" to find out exactly where it was in the book. I've read the Christmas Story before. I remember how powerful it seemed and that it made me cry when I read the actual words "for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior. 'Tis Christ the Lord." But the Easter story is...very short. Very meaningful, but not nearly as impactful. If you blink, you could miss it.
As I read over it and over it, both in my head and out loud to Prince Charming, I was struck at how entire religions, and millions of people all over the world, both now and throughout history, have based so much of themselves on three little words...He is risen.
I kind of felt like the Grinch, standing with my feet ice cold in the Seattle rain. Puzzling and puzzling. It's not about bunnies. It's not about chocolate. It's not about plastic grass or colored eggs or new toys....or even new shoes. It's much more than that. I can't even begin to wrap my head around how much more it truly is, and it's amazing how it can mean such a completely different thing.
I'm not done with this exploration yet. I have a lot more to think about and mull over. I may pray. I may read some more. I may start another discussion with my husband and children. But for now, I'd just like to say
May the blessings of Easter be with you this day and every day.
Love you guys,
Lisa
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