The Easter Bunny’s a Thief…..
Easter was confusing to me as a kid. I knew too much about biology and not enough about theology.
For me it was all about Easter eggs –hunting and dying. We would dye hard boiled eggs the Saturday before Easter. It was a real family event. We would hide them, find them and crack ‘em on each other’s heads, peel the shells off and eat ‘em. Our family was so notorious for crackin’ those eggs on each other’s heads that Bill Lemon did not suspect a thing.
We boiled all the eggs but one. We dyed them all including the one that was not boiled. I went outside and found Mr. Bill and asked him if I could crack that egg, the one that wasn’t hard boiled, on his head. Unsuspecting he took his huntin’ hat off and CRACK! Yolk was dripping from his head.
But I really could not understand the logic of the pagan tradition. According to Ila Jane, my older sister, the Easter Bunny hid the eggs. With my vast knowledge of biology I knew that rabbits were mammals and therefore gave birth to live young and were good for huntin’.
So where did the Easter Bunny get the eggs? The only way to reconcile this was to conclude that the Bunny stole ‘em.
When I got older we started going to church on days besides Easter Sunday. I learned about the passion of Jesus. I understood that Easter was really about Jesus dying on the cross so I would be forgiven for my sins. I know this now to be blood atonement.
During my college years and sometime after, I was struck by many questions concerning theology. Science took over and I just couldn’t quite accept all of it beyond being tradition.
As I hit the half century mark I have found myself thinking differently about Easter. It seems to me that Jesus was extremely wise about God and saw it all as compassion. He was quite the insurgent talking about the kingdom of God as opposed to the kingdom of Rome. He paid for it. And having been executed, his teachings lived way beyond his time. It is the way that I choose to live, attempting to show compassion for others.
For me it was all about Easter eggs –hunting and dying. We would dye hard boiled eggs the Saturday before Easter. It was a real family event. We would hide them, find them and crack ‘em on each other’s heads, peel the shells off and eat ‘em. Our family was so notorious for crackin’ those eggs on each other’s heads that Bill Lemon did not suspect a thing.
We boiled all the eggs but one. We dyed them all including the one that was not boiled. I went outside and found Mr. Bill and asked him if I could crack that egg, the one that wasn’t hard boiled, on his head. Unsuspecting he took his huntin’ hat off and CRACK! Yolk was dripping from his head.
But I really could not understand the logic of the pagan tradition. According to Ila Jane, my older sister, the Easter Bunny hid the eggs. With my vast knowledge of biology I knew that rabbits were mammals and therefore gave birth to live young and were good for huntin’.
So where did the Easter Bunny get the eggs? The only way to reconcile this was to conclude that the Bunny stole ‘em.
When I got older we started going to church on days besides Easter Sunday. I learned about the passion of Jesus. I understood that Easter was really about Jesus dying on the cross so I would be forgiven for my sins. I know this now to be blood atonement.
During my college years and sometime after, I was struck by many questions concerning theology. Science took over and I just couldn’t quite accept all of it beyond being tradition.
As I hit the half century mark I have found myself thinking differently about Easter. It seems to me that Jesus was extremely wise about God and saw it all as compassion. He was quite the insurgent talking about the kingdom of God as opposed to the kingdom of Rome. He paid for it. And having been executed, his teachings lived way beyond his time. It is the way that I choose to live, attempting to show compassion for others.
--willi
posted by willi at 7:02 PM
4 Comments:
Okay, I am impressed. This is very good, and as usual you have demonstrated great insight. After our evening class last week, I am intrigued by your explanation of the role of Jesus in the crucifixion.
Interesting reflection about the Easter Bunny. I never cared much for Santa Claus, but the Easter Bunny brought candy. Yum
It really didn't matter much to me where the eggs came from and if it made my parents happy, well so be it. I do remember feeling a little guilty about the candy thing. I never could make a satisfactory connection between Jesus and candy.
The Easter story has become much more meaningful and significant for me since our studies with Pastor Tim.
Wonderful bunny story. Super connections from the beginning to the end. Also, the "boats-to-build" title is super. Good job!
Excellent. I couldn't have said it better myself. Unlike your dilemma, I knew more about Theology than Science, so the journey was different, but we arrived in the same place - shoot the bunny.
PT
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