Wednesday, April 14, 2004

Some post Easter thoughts ...

By JOHN HATCHER
Religion Columnist

North Carolina has a great tradition. It’s called Easter Monday and it’s a state holiday. It was started in 1935 by the state legislature so state employees could have Monday off to see the North Carolina State-Wake Forest baseball competition. School districts took the cue and also made it a state holiday.

Easter Monday, however, has deeper roots than in tar-heel soil. It’s observed in Canada and Europe as a remnant of the old Christian tradition of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus for the entire week after Easter.

After all, should we not celebrate the resurrection more than just one day? There’s much to do over the Passion Week (Holy Week), but when it comes to Easter, there’s just one day. Shouldn’t we make it a whole week of special events, services, plays, and activities?

Most church workers are absolutely drained come Easter afternoon, after usually conducting multiple services to accommodate the unfaithful who show up especially for Christmas and Easter (hey, we take them when we can get them).

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My most memorable Easter Egg Hunt took place when I was only four years old. It was sponsored by a community center. I remember coming home rather upset about the course of the event. Mama asked me why I was mad. I said, “They didn’t have any rooster eggs.” Of course, I meant they didn’t have any hen eggs, only those sickening hard-shell candy eggs. I didn’t like them then and I don’t like them now. Much progress has been made, however, in Easter Egg Hunts, especially those that offer those delicious Cadbury chocolate eggs. Now, if you want to lay an egg, that’s the kind to lay.

Of course, now hen eggs are suspect. What if the egg became spoiled and a child got a case of food poisoning from a bad egg?

When hen eggs were about the only eggs — and coloring eggs was a big deal Ð my sisters and I were not content with just one Easter Egg Hunt. We brought our eggs home and hid them in the house and played the game of finding them. I remember once when we didn’t find one of the eggs; its scent found us several weeks later. Ah, those wonderful Easter Egg Hunts.

These days, Easter is another celebration of sugar. First, there’s Halloween with trick-or-treat sugar. Then there’s Valentine’s with its love sugar. And now Easter with resurrection sugar. Who is running our holidays, by the way, beloved traditions or the sugar industry? Or, is the dental industry in cahoots with the sugar makers?

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Following our church’s Easter service, I scooted down to Columbus to be with my family for an Easter meal. Three of my four sisters, two brothers-in-law, one former brother-in-law, two nephews, one niece and a host of related family connections had gathered. We had ham, turkey, and lots and lots of food. Yes, there was an Easter Egg Hunt for the little ones.

As I traveled down Georgia 85, I noticed that many families were getting together on Easter. I hope you got to see family members this past Sunday. We need to make more effort at getting together with family. Increasingly families are separated from coast to coast. It seems we are losing something of the American value in family. It takes effort to come together. It takes a commitment that family is important. On my way home I thought a lot about Mama and Daddy and how they would have enjoyed the Easter family meal. Of course, they are enjoying the eternal Easter feast in heaven!

John Hatcher is pastor of Outreach International Center, 1091 South Jeff Davis Drive, Fayetteville, Georgia 30215. 770-719-0303