Here comes Easter

Do we celebrate the engagement or the wedding more?  Do we celebrate the day of conception or the day of birth more? So why do we not celebrate Easter more heartily than we do Christmas?  Yes Christmas is a big deal, that is obvious, but Easter is a bigger deal; Christmas only happened so Easter could happen. We only celebrate Christmas because we can celebrate Easter.

Part of the reason, I think, is that Christmas has taken on so many non-Christian traits that it has become it's own self propelling monster.  Think about it, Christmas 'season' starts the day after Halloween in most places, and Thanksgiving has become a blip on the map, maybe a test run for Christmas dinner in some homes.  Christmas has become all about lights, obnoxious blow up lawn decorations (guy on the corner of Pawnee and Center, I'm talking about you), getting 2 weeks off school, work bonuses, and lest we forget PRESENTS!  What was originally a celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world has now become a celebration of consumerism, wrapped up in goofy sweaters, fake cheer, and eggnog.  I know this seems like I'm bashing Christmas, but I'm not.  I'm bashing what America has done to Christmas and Easter.

America has this fantastic ability to take something that is not the most important thing and make it the most important thing, i.e. how you look, what car you drive, how big your house is, what church you 'belong' to, where you play golf, what school you graduated from, etc.  In this case America has taken Easter, which should be the most celebrated day of every year, and supplanted it with Christmas, which again I'm not bashing, I'm just saying its been lifted up to a position it shouldn't be in.

Easter is the day that Jesus rose from the dead!!  Are you kidding me?!  This is AMAZING!  And how do we celebrate it?  With a bunny that lays chocolate eggs.  Seriously, no wonder Christmas has become the holiday.  We celebrate that with a jolly old fat guy who gives us all the toys we want.  On Easter we get an egg laying bunny...and by the way bunnies can't and never will lay eggs!  It deeply saddens me that such a glorious, momentous, crazy awesome day has become just another holiday that seems so often to go by the wayside.

Now maybe you're reading this and thinking to yourself, 'that's not been my experience.  Easter is always a big deal in my house/family/church.'  To which I would respond, 'PRAISE GOD!'  But if your experience has been at all close to mine let me encourage you to change that this year.  Easter is in 4 days, let's celebrate it like it should be celebrated.  It is after all the day that solidifies our hope in Jesus, and that hope will lead us home.