drum roll...and my favorite reason for being in love with Spring...


I simply adore Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. So much to say about this...

First I should probably say that Easter has only become my favorite holiday during the last few years. Growing up, I adored "the holidays" (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's) but I've had a growing dislike for these holidays with each passing year. Not that I don't enjoy or appreciate them still, but I certainly seem to observe and experience the "flaws" (for lack of a better word) of these holidays in how we celebrate them. I see so much stress surrounding Christmas, and really, I shouldn't even get started on Thanksgiving (can't resist...look, the Pilgrims did a great thing by coming to this country for freedom of worship, but folks, they were NOT perfect and I doubt they wanted to be commemorated by eating a piece of cooked fowl and throwing around a piece of pigskin!).

The process of Easter becoming my favorite holiday was already well underway by the time I went to England in 2002, but it was there that I truly experienced a new and fresh way of looking at this holiday and where it became sealed as my favorite. Kate (best friend) and I had traveled to England to fulfill a lifelong dream for both of us (to visit the "mother country" as we lovingly call it), and during our travels there, we stayed for several days with Kate's cousin Nigel, who is the vicar of the Knutsford Parish Church. Easter Sunday morning, we piled into Caroline's (Nigel's wife) old Volvo with their kids and drove to the church. Inside, the people celebrated as we do in this country with the singing of hymns and the taking of communion (although in the Anglican church, they've never heard of oyster crackers and grape juice...no, no, it's the real stuff there...Nigel placed a wafer on my tongue as I bowed in prayer at the altar, and then I sipped from the communal goblet of wine when it was passed to me). Nigel shared a simple message, and then after coffee and cookies in a reception room, we all piled back into the Volvo and went back to the vicarage. It was at this point that I realized the astounding differences between their celebration of Easter and our's (meaning, the American way). The congregation had not been awash in a sea of pastel clothing. When we got home, the kids did not cut loose in the yard, looking for hidden pastel eggs. Caroline's house did not sport a million ceramic bunnies and chickies and all that. I do want to say that I see absolutely NOTHING WRONG with these things. Not at all. But for me, I have discovered that these things had only ever served as a distraction. I found that without this type of pomp and circumstance, there was time in my day and room in my mind for real reflection on the meaning of the day. In fact, over Easter dinner (which was almost hilarious to me, for we dined on things like Greek salad and a spicy quiche...not your typical American Easter fare!), the whole family got involved in such a stimulating theological discussion that I had tears in my eyes. I found myself so grateful for being surrounded by such people, with such respect for the day. I will never forget that experience and how it changed my viewpoint.

However, I have to say that I think Easter is my favorite holiday simply because the spiritual implications are THE most important that a Christian can pause and meditate on and deeply celebrate within the soul. Even typing about it now, I get that feeling of awe in what the resurrection MEANS for us...without Christ's victory over sin and death, we would have NOTHING. No hope, no forgiveness, no redemption. No purpose in life, no meaning in death.

Praise to you Jesus for the marvelous gift that You bought and paid for with Your life, and the awesome hope that You achieved for us all when You walked out of that tomb, alive and glorious in Your majesty!!!