EASTER PARADE

I REMEMBER

CELEBRATING EASTER AND ALL THAT CAME WITH IT

I REMEMBER the way we used to celebrate Easter at our church in Delhi. The ladies in the congregation would bring lots of Easter eggs to the church, and a few high school students would hide those eggs on the church grounds, carrying out their task prior to the arrival of the younger children. Then, when the youngsters had arrived at the gym, they would be turned loose to locate and collect those hidden eggs. After this roundup was concluded, the youth would gather once more at the gym where the pastor or another adult would share the meaning of Easter with the children. The Easter Egg Hunt was an annual prelude to the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Besides the hiding and hunting of Easter eggs, there are a number of other traditions and activities that have become a part of the Easter season. Many of these are innocuous, but some are a far stretch from having any true relationship with Easter itself.

Consider some of those practices that are pretty much benign relative to distorting this special season. One of the things that has more appeal to the ladies in our families is the habit of searching for, not Easter eggs, but Easter outfits!Although this activity is not one of the things in which men folks take much delight, they usually will, without too much protest, fulfill their role in this activity by offering up their credit cards in support of the “hunt.” And the wives and children do brighten up the day with their new clothes.

Another manner in which Easter is widely observed is by way of the spring break. This vacation from school often coincides with the Easter celebration, and the students usually like this excuse for getting out of their classes for a week. In conjunction with this break from school, some families will often plan a family vacation – that means that the children will not be the only ones benefiting from the Easter season!

One of the traditions that is a favorite of mine is the Easter Sunrise Service. Usually several churches in a community will gather together for an earlymorning worship service at which believers will celebrate together the resurrection of the Lord. In our town, three churches rotate acting as hosts for the service and the three pastors alternate in sharing the privilege of preaching to those assembled. An Easter breakfast is then served by the host church. Afinal tradition associated with WHAT HAPPENED THAT FIRST EASTER Easter is one widely accepted and observed by folks in Louisiana. IS THE MOST IMPORTANT EVENT IN Actually, it is observed all around

THE HISTORY OF MANKIND. the world, but I doubt that there is any state in our union that could match the enthusiasm of the citizens of this state! That to which I am referring is known as “Mardi Gras,” or “Fat Tuesday.” It is so big that LSU gives its students a whole week off to celebrate, or recuperate from, Mardi Gras! “Fat Tuesday” is the culmination of the Mardi Gras season and ends its activities, which include a lot of partying, and the start of Lent, a time of self-denial that lasts until Easter. Let me suggest that we don’t let these things, fine as they are (with some exceptions), hide, at least partially, the real Easter, because what happened that first Easter is the most important event in the history of mankind. Apart from Christ’s overcoming death, we would have no hope of heaven. The Resurrection of Jesus came three days after His death on the cross and was God the Father’s affirmation that Christ was His Son who had successfully completed the task that had been assigned to Him (Romans 1:4). Easter is God’s “Amen” to the redemption which Jesus purchased for His own by His substitutionary sacrifice for us at calvary. The Resurrection confirms the finished work that Jesus completed on the cross. As we celebrate Easter this year, let us not allow anything that we do in celebrating the season detract from what Easter means to us. And let the song in our hearts be, “To God be the glory!”

article by PAUL LIPE

opinion expressed is that of the writer