Monday, April 5, 2010

Easter has come and gone

Is it the first Sunday -- after the first full moon -- after the first day of Spring? I don't remember but that is close enough. Easter! That day of the year when we do strange things in strangely different traditions.

I lived in New Mexico for many years. That is the home of the Penatente. That is a group of believers who are leftovers from the Catholic/Indian culture, I am told. They select a member of their group to become Jesus for the weekend. He is honored by allowing himself to be hung on a cross (some assure me that years ago he was actually nailed to the cross -- but that is highly suspect in its validity). On Easter morning he is removed from the cross and hailed as the messiah and the celebration begins.

I was in Old Mexico one year on Easter weekend and observed a man in a small village in the Copper Canyon. He was in great pain (and also a good actor) as he carried a very large and heavy cross down the street, through the village, leading what appeared to be a parade of every person in the village behind him. They were singing and moaning and celebating the holy day (holiday?) as they reinacted the legend of Jesus's path to Calvery.

Then, we are all familiar with and have participated in, the traditional Masses and sunrise services and religious gatherings with which we all grew up. No need to describe those.

But for some reason -- I know not where it originated -- we switch to eggs and rabbits. Children all over the country hunt eggs planted by the Easter bunny -- a kind of spring-time Santa, I guess. In my career and as a parent, I have participated in these hunts many times..They are a sight to behold. Little kids go first. Parents help tikes who are not yet old enough to know what is going on. The struggle to find their hidden treasures. Then the next age bracket. They have been here before -- they know the ropes -- they grab and fight over the eggs as though they were gold. And so it goes with the hunt.

When I was a lad, there were no commercial hunts -- just around in our back yard. My Easter bunny parents did the hiding. But before the hunt began, there was a big basket of candy for each of us, waiting to be discovered when we got out of bed. It was a day of candy eating that was allowed -- stomach ache or not. My parents had little money for frivisous things like candy --(maybe that is why I still have my own teeth) but Easter was the exception. Those baskets were home created -- put together by my parents -- no pre prepared baskets in my famiy. But the candy was great with lots of jelly beans (they were cheap). I liked the black ones best.

Yes -- Easter has come and gone for another year. The faithful have celebrated it in whichever way they have seen fit. The bunny is gone for another year with his eggs and candy. And I wonder -- What would Jesus have thought about this holiday and its various spinoffs?? He would probably roll his eyes and chalk it up to progress.

From the heart -- Olaf Hart

2 comments:

  1. I remember when I was little the thrill of waking up Easter morning, hopping out of bed to look for our Easter baskets. Sometimes they were actual baskets, most times they were made from various bowls from our kitchen. I never realized until now that we kids never gave that a second thought...about how the Easter Bunny would root through our cabinets to use cereal bowls to put the "grass" and candy in. We didn't care, we just wanted the candy! Then it was out to the back yard to find the Easter eggs, colored the day before by us young art-teest's! Then we ate egg salad for days and days and days.....

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  2. You can have all of my black jelly beans, because those are the only ones I don't like!

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