Celebrating Easter

     I know it's late. Easter has already passed. But better late than never, right?

     Easter to me has long been my favorite holiday. It comes during the springtime, when the earth is starting to come back to life again. Easter is about resurrection, and I have always loved how it coincides with the season. It is newness. It is a breath of life. It is the smell of the last remnants of winter fading away into grass, leaves, flowers, and sunshine.

     On a religious level, Easter is not a lone holiday. First you have Good Friday, a day of fasting and prayer. Its ceremonies are bare and stark. It commemorates Jesus' crucifixion, and it is liturgically set up to help the faithful feel that crucifixion not just in heart and mind, but in body as well. It is hunger and thirst. It is the pain and lethargy of an empty stomach. But then comes Easter, a day of plenty, a day where we eat chocolate and egg salad? It is resurrection. It celebrates Jesus' return to life, and it is liturgically set up for celebration, in decorated churches with joyous music.

     I happen to believe that candy on Easter is not the same as toys on Christmas. Christmas toys are commercial, distracting, and self-centered. But candy on Easter is not a mere indulgent pleasure. It is a way of feeling the sweetness of the holiday bodily and physically. The fasting of Good Friday gives way to the feasting of Easter.

     This is why I love Easter. The entire holiday, with its setting in the newness of Spring, with its tradition of feasting after the fast, with its stark changes and contrasts with Good Friday--all this is a way to experience the celebration not just in our hearts but in our very physique. It's a journey, and the entire journey is felt in your bones.

     This year was hard, of course. I didn't get outside to experience Spring. I didn't get to go to Church. I didn't have candy on Easter. I didn't have friends or family around to celebrate. But you know what, writing this has been its own celebration and has helped me to feel a bit of that spirit of Easter. And if you missed your Easter traditions too, I hope this message has brought a little of that to you.

     Happy Easter Season!