Easter thoughts

I have always really loved Easter - it just seems so warm and colorful, doesn't it? I especially loved it as a kid. My memories of Easter from childhood include chocolate and jelly beans, church services, family get-togethers (food!), egg hunts, blooming flowers, and everything pastel and sunshiny. It was always such a fun holiday to look forward to.

As I got older and the magic of the Easter Bunny had long faded and Easter dinner consisted of a not-nearly-as-good imitation of my grandma's potato salad and a few slices of ham (sans the family), I started to look forward to Easter in a different way. I was working at a cute little boutique where the window displays and gift items throughout the store clearly portrayed the upcoming holiday or season. I loved the decorations and unique little gifts we carried, especially for spring and Easter (second only to Christmas, of course). Everything was glittery or brightly painted in stripes, plaids, and polka dots and I cooed like a baby every time we opened a new shipment. It made the lull of post-Christmas seem bearable, knowing that once the first of March rolled around, we'd be pouring Spring throughout the store like a much needed cleansing after a dark and dreary winter. Everything felt new and bright and cheery. It made me feel happy amidst my stressful, unsure, and ever-changing life.

And although I was happily a part of the retail commercialism of the holidays, I have always thought how strange it is that religious holidays in America have become washed out and faded through time. Christmas and Easter are both Christian holidays that are meant to celebrate the Savior's birth and resurrection respectively. But somehow they have become more about the gifts and the glitter and the icons and less about Jesus. It really is sad.

This year as I'm not only far away from most of my family and traditions, but far away from the excitement and sparkliness of my little boutique, I have thought a lot about what Easter is really all about. Not that I've never known or never thought about it or cared, but I think the hype of decorations and candy and the coming of spring has washed out the realness and depth of the holiday for me. This year I have been grateful for a different perspective. Ukrainians really celebrate Easter. They decorate beautiful eggs (the quintessence of Ukrainian culture - the symbol of life, growth, prosperity, etc.), they take their bread and bunches of pussy willow to the church to get blessed, they attend church, and they spend time with their families in religious observance. That doesn't sound much different from the way most Americans do it, but here, that's all they do. They leave out the Easter bunny and the candy and the commercialism and keep it sweet and simple and strictly religious.

One of my favorite things that I have learned this year about their Easter traditions has been the way they greet each other. Instead of saying "Happy Easter," they greet each other with "He is risen!" and in reply, the other person says, "Truly, He is risen!" How great is that? And they mean it - they are genuinely excited about it. It's so tender.

I thought a lot about that today. I want to be like that - I want to greet my friends with exclamations of excitement that Christ is alive. That's what Easter is all about. It's about His sacrifice and His life and most importantly, the miracle of His resurrection. It's about hope.

So, in the Ukrainian spirit, He is risen... truly, He is risen! Happy Easter!