For anyone who doesn't celebrate Easter (CC)...

[Julpost]

If it were up to me, we wouldn't do Easter at all. But my dh thinks that it would be good to remember Christs resurrection, I can agree to that. I'm just averse to the eggs, rabbits, anything that can be connected to pagan rituals (I'm just addressing my faith, nobody elses, so please don't start sending me neg rep points again for admitting my beliefs due to my interpretation of my Bible).

However, in the past we've always done all of the 'normal' Easter things, egg hunts, baskets, etc. I'm trying to be separate from the world, trying to discern what it is to follow Christ, and how to teach these things to my dc. Since we're trying to change, has anyone else been down this road and how did you change your families traditions? Are there any good books on the roots of Easter for kids??

I hope this thread doesn't get me in trouble. I did title it (CC) as a warning....

[Lady_Dulcinea]

What I've done for several years is have "Spring Day" The kids get their chocolate bunnies, plastic eggs, peeps and stuff on the first day of Spring. Easter is all about resurrection. Of course one grandparent and oddly enough the church makes this a little tricky. Every year I try to let it slide by without anyone noticing...doesn't work. :tongue_smilie:

Last year I did some rethinking on how the egg and springness are great illustrations of Christ and the resurrection. But I still just can't do anything with da bunny.

Ah I knew I'd blogged about it:

Rethinking Easter
A few years ago I separated all the eggs and bunnies from Easter Sunday and moved them to the first day of Spring, so that we could focus solely on the resurrection on Easter Sunday. This spring the curriculum for my preschool choir has been about Signs of Spring. We've used eggs, flowers, bunnies, etc for props and object lessons. All those things that show new life just like Jesus gives us. The empty easter egg is an awesome illustration of the empty tomb. The kids really enjoy these things and they have gotten us talking about the real meaning of Easter. I think I'm going to have to merge these things back together. Fun learning is effective learning! Now I just need to figure out how chocolate connects to Easter.


We only have a couple books: The First Easter by Carol Heyer (picture book) and The Easter Story by Patricia A. Pingry (board book)

We love having resurrection rolls for dinner on Easter http://blessingsforlife.com/recipes/holidays/resurrectionrolls.htm

[Sue G in PA]

but I know it would disappoint my kids. Just like Christmas...we told the dc about Santa, but we still have gifts under the tree. My kids know that there isn't some monster-sized bunny running around w/some basket full of eggs, hiding them in varoius areas of our home. :D They know why we celebrate Easter (or Resurrection Day as we like to call it). I must admit that in years past I got so caught up in the "fluff"...making sure their baskets were full of neat stuff, getting THE prettiest Easter dress for dd, etc. This year, I just don't have the motivation. Candy bugs me. They just got too much at our church's Egg Hunt (don't even ask me how I feel about the church doing an egg hunt...I haven't really figured out how I feel about that!). They know they won't see anymore candy in their baskets. I usually get them one small gift for the basets. This year? I don't even want to bother with the baskets! I'm just praying baby comes before Easter to "save" me from all the fuss and bother! I'm with you, though. Our old church used to play this really cute song called, "I'm just a bunny but it's not funny"...and it goes on to say how he's upset that everyone only thinks about him and hiding eggs and stuff and then he ends by saying that "Easter is all about J-E-S-U-S!". Our old church did an egg hunt, but also had a "show" about the real meaning of Easter before. Anyway, long reponse...go with your gut! Do what God is telling you to do! Can't go wrong with that!

[Scarlett]

Since we're trying to change, has anyone else been down this road and how did you change your families traditions? Are there any good books on the roots of Easter for kids??

I hope this thread doesn't get me in trouble. I did title it (CC) as a warning....


I don't see why it has to be a book for kids. Just show them the roots of those Easter traditions and tell them you've decided it is wrong and therefore wont' be doing it anymore.

Children are disappointed all of the time. It isn't a justification for doing what you feel to be wrong.

[Chris in VA]

I fully understand the desire to separate the seemingly non-religious symbols of Easter from the celebration of the Resurrection. I'm speaking as someone who doesn't do Santa at all--I get the whole separation thing.
For us, though, eggs and candy are part of Easter--part of our celebration of the Resurrection. Eggs, as the above poster said, are symbols of new life--awesome depictions of new life/empty tomb. Same with the butterfly (we dye paper coffee filter butterflies at the same time as colored eggs).
Candy represents the sweetness of new life in Christ, and the sweetness of the Saviour himself.
For us, it is not secular or pagan, because we have re-imaged (or, resurrected!) the symbols from pagan fertility symbols to Christian symbols. We never did the Easter bunny--I think that's stupider to teach kids than even Santa Claus. (No flames here, please--just my opinion)

[Remudamom]

http://femina.reformedblogs.com/

She has an entry entitled "Chocolate eggs and Jesus risen".

[Bess]

Well, we don't celebrate easter at all. The main reason might surprise you...but it's because when the bible tells us to remember the Lord's death, it gave us specific details on *how* we are to do it. And that is through the Lord's supper. There was nothing about a sunrise service or special one time a year celebration...but an often occurance of taking of the bread and the cup in remembrence. So, we don't set aside the day at all in any special way. Yes, since it occurs on a sunday, we go to church as we normally would, but to us the day is like any other Lord's day.

[Chris in VA]

Thanks Remudamom! LOVe this blog!

[nestof3]

I do not know of a book that explains it either. We just explain to our children that it is the day to remember the resurrection. We just don't get too giddy about spring coming any more than we do any other season. Now, we enjoy the season along with fall (our other favorite). Yes, I show them how the perennials come back, but to me, this has nothing to do with Christ's death, burial and resurrection. To me, it's still just a vain effort to link the two (pagan and Christian) together.

I do not see an egg as a new life -- it's part of the natural life cycle. Even perennials were not dead, just dormant. What Jesus did was not part of the natural life cycle. The natural would be to be born, to die -- with the spirit living eternally. Our connection with that is a spiritual one -- being born again, being baptized, and the resurrection of the dead.

In our family, we never interpret or act on scripture based on whether the children will be disappointed. Honestly, they need to learn from a young age that there will be denials that must take place in the life of a Christian. Even as adults, if we endure no denials, no suffering, no persecution, I would urge us to see if we are truly walking in His truth.

I like these verses:

Hebrews 5:8
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered

Acts 5:41
And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.

[Chris in VA]

Julpsot,
I just want to add that I feel uncomfortable about my post--you asked specifically to hear from those who don't celebrate Easter, and, since I obviously do, perhaps I shouldn't have posted. I apologize if I said anything offensive.
Chris

[Pencil Pusher]

We've been there! I read a book called A Little Kosher Seasoning that talks about a Jewish woman's conversion and subsequent marriage to a Christian pastor. It offers her insights into the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.

My mom read this book when I was in hs & told me about it. Based on that, I'd decided that I wanted to celebrate Jewish holidays instead of Christian/American ones.

But once I had dc, I was much less...stoic?...about everything. I think the wonder & magic of childhood are important to enjoy while they're there. So we celebrated Easter, Christmas, etc. Dh was fine w/ everything except Easter. He always grumbled about that one.

Anyway, once I read LKS for myself & told dh about it, he really wanted to celebrate Passover. We did that for the first time about 3 years ago, & we do see that as...a good thing to do? It is the holiday Jesus was celebrating when he said, "Do this in remembrance of me." We read that to be Passover, not just communion. And we enjoy showing our children how he became the Passover Lamb, how he fulfills the prophecy & foreshadowing of the Messiah from the OT.

My intent that year was to celebrate Passover alongside Easter, but friends of ours were converting to Catholicism at the same time. The dw of the couple was being confirmed Easter weekend, & we went out (5hrs away) to that. When we got home that Sunday, we just forgot. The dc didn't notice.

I really enjoyed the *fun* of the egg hunt as a child, & that was one of the things I didn't want to give up. We've found the hunt for the afikomen to be just as much fun, though. Our dc haven't asked about it since. Go figure!

[debbiec]

One way we have raised the Christian value of Easter is to celebrate Passover. We begin tonight, (but hubby has the flu, so we will delay this year). If you have never had a family, group or church messianic passover, you are truly missing something special with all the foreshadowing of Christ ~ This marks our beginning of our 4 day celebration. You can find materials on line and to purchase for this. The kids get to a "hunt" at the end (to redeem the hidden broken matzah that was hidden earlier in the meal, a foreshadowing of Christ resurrected). Really, this really made a huge difference in our Easter celebration. Youget a better understanding of biblical history and God's plan for redemption.

Good Friday ~ church services and home reading; begin resurrection eggs, etc (my kids are getting older, so this varies)

Saturday ~ families get together for a brunch and Easter egg hunt for the kids. It's a great fellowship, the kids have a blast, and it leaves Sunday focused on worship (no egg hunting in the morning, etc). I frankly don't have a problem with egg hunts and fun. So much of it is rooted in history. But having it the day before keeps it from taking over the true meaning of Easter.

Sunday ~ worship at church, easter dinner, etc ... The kids do get Easter baskets, but they have goodies along with a faith based gift (CD, Christian biography, etc)

About celebrating Easter at all ~ Well, you probably shouldn't celebrate Christmas either then. It just seems to me that we can give glory to God in these situations and it would depend on what you are choosing to celebrate. Jesus lived and participated in his culture (though Jewish, but many of its traditions were designed by man and not God). I guess it depends too, on how seriously you take Paul about our freedom in Christ.

Just some thoughts ~

[Tami]

We don't do the eggs and bunnies, so I guess we don't really miss it. We will do Passover Seder (http://www.crivoice.org/seder.html), special devotions, special gifts, and the like. I don't know, I just don't like the pagan symbolism, and my dh feels even stronger about it than I do. I have never found my child to be disappointed by a new piece of cross jewelry or a new spring outfit. However, if she was, it really wouldn't sway me. I'm not selling my conscience for a bit of easter candy, kwim?

Here is a fun site that we have been using this week. Lots of good activity ideas~

http://www.teachinghome.com/newsletters/newsletter206.cfm

Blessings!

[GVA]

We would be considered on the more conservative end of Christianity, and it's not the norm in general in our kind of church to celebrate Easter. Actually we don't celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday either, but that's another post...

I was raised Methodist with full church celebrations and all the eggs/bunnies/etc. and was involved in a fairly conservative group during my single days that always did various Easter musical programs and had a big church dinner. You can imagine my shock when we were engaged and my DH-to-be flatly stated that we remember Christ's resurrection every Sunday (we are in a group that has the Lord's Supper every Sunday), and that Easter was not a "church" holiday. His mom often did a ham or leg of lamb and they had guests, but that was it for Easter Sunday for them.

Over the years I've appreciated how much every Sunday has become "Resurrection Day" for me. Personally I think that's intent of Scripture if you take that as your pattern for church life.

If you do step away from celebrating Easter, do keep in mind that such practices are counter to most people's way of thinking. You'll do some explaining, but that's not bad either if you can do it in a way that's respectful of others' convictions.