Minister's
Message
3
How can we connect the Easter Bunny to God?
Our seasonal customs tend to reflect humanity’s earliest
mysteries: the rhythm of the seasons, the unseen forces of growth and decay. Nearly all our Easter customs were first associated with spring.
Hares and rabbits, for example, have long been connected with spring—often in mystical ways. The rabbit was a sacred animal to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty and marriage. Many believed that hares could reproduce without copulation; others are said to have believed that hares could carry messages to the dead.
Cultures close to the natural world are more likely to have such nuanced ideas about animals. Yet, even in our industrialized society, rabbits are still associated with fertility — and therefore serve as symbols of the abundance of life that our God provides for us. If, like Jews coming across a beautiful tree, we take a moment to notice the connection, we can experience the rabbit as an embodiment of the eternal force of life.
The Mystical Egg
I tend to think of eggs only as items in the dairy aisle. But even a moment’s thought lets me see just how mysterious they are: their shape is perfect, their colors are perfect, and they carry life inside them.
Equally relevant to Easter, eggs leave an empty shell once the life they carry is hatched. This undoubtedly contributed to the early Christian association of the eggshell with Christ’s empty tomb.
Whenever we see an egg — even a foil-wrapped chocolate one — we have a chance to notice the mystery of how the sacredness of life is carried in fragile containers. We can ponder the miraculous relationship of eternal life to the short-lived vessels in which our souls are wrapped.
Surely There’s No Deep Meaning for Candy?
On the Jewish New Year, Rosh HaShanah, it is common to dip an apple in honey and then eat it—savoring the sweetness we all hope for in a new year.
Expressed in the simple attraction children find to sugar, then, the sweetness of candy can remind us of the sweetness of life or the sweetness of forgiveness and Christ’s grace. In particular, we can ponder the delights of new life, of rebirth of all kinds.