Celebratory Easter Ideas

I missed posting this last week, but I figured since we’re still in the Easter season and some of these ideas might be interesting/worth putting more thought into for next year, we’d just go for it. So here ye are. (For my first post on this, you can click here.)

Now for the further discussion of presents.

And celebratory things in general.

And the presents. ;)

But first, decorations.

After all the twinkly lights at Christmastide it’s always a downer to go to nothing at all in January, so this year around Epiphany (Jan 6th)/the end of the 12 days of Christmas, I switched out and put up some different white string lights in our living room and running down the hallway, both of which tend to get a little dark in the winter anyway. I really like the idea of having them up through Easter and Ascension Day. It creates a nice ambiance and has actually served as a really good daily reminder of the forward march of the church calendar.

Oh, and I also got some neat lanterns last year I love and… forgot to pull out this year. (The consequence of having things, neatly organized of course! ;D, but in multiple places due to ongoing construction. At least that’s what I’m blaming it on. ;))

I’ve been thinking a lot about imagery to do with the Tree of Life. I know there’s debate about Christmas trees (personally, we stand firmly cheering Boniface), but either way the evergreens are a symbol of eternal life, etc. This might be obvious, but when I was little I remember being kinda disappointed when reading Genesis that we never got to hear much more on the Tree of Life and then I distinctly remember the thrill when I was around twelve or so and realized it's really the whole point. The Tree of Life runs through every chapter, looming large and shaping the entirety of the story of creation and redemption. From Genesis through Ezekiel and on to Revelation 22 wherein we find the tree whose leaves are for the healing of the nations.

And of course -- spilling out from this -- garden (and mountaintop) imagery is typologically apt: with Christ as the New Adam, Christ rising in the garden, the world becoming a garden, etc. etc.

Fresh flowers are always lovely. And I’m not generally too keen on silk flowers (cause they can get dusty so quickly), but I have invested in some realistic looking wisteria and rose garlands (ivy’s also nice). I’m hoping if I keep them boxed up they’ll last for quite a few years and be something of a family tradition to pull out.

Now to the feasting.

As always, I think we should give some thought to hospitality. (And I don't want to send a critical message re different preferences, situations, etc. -- we're just trying to get the thought wheels spinning here.) It does seem that folks tend to expect more of a family dinner holiday (i.e. like Thanksgiving -- I mean you might have other folks over too, but the general emphasis seems to be on family). And the day IS very specifically joy for believers and condemnation and fear for those who are not. But if Christ rose from the dead the world should be hearing about it. Our neighbors should be hearing about it. And step one, we should most definitely be warmly inviting and welcoming in our fellow Christian brothers and sisters.

Of course, when thinking about evangelizing, we want to be winning our neighbors. Not making them uncomfortable on the one hand or making light of the glorious feast day on the other. So cookies at their gate or doorstep is always a great initial idea too. And the cookies don’t have to have a message. The idea is that it’s an unexpected gift and it’s to get people thinking. Surprise them.

Another idea I’d really like to try is singing at nursing homes. We’ve done caroling around Christmastime (which is great), but I think it could be a particular Resurrection Day blessing as well.

And if you have an extra day of family time around Easter maybe a special outing... a trip to the zoo, day in the mountains, cave visit, water and sand time at the ocean, or even a fun backyard picnic. Something memorable and un-everday-ish.

And the presents.

I’m so happy some of you liked my thoughts on gifts in the last post. I really loved hearing from you! :)

The little Princess got some books I’ve had on hand and been wanting to give her for a while: A Time to Keep by Tasha Tudor and Flower Fairies of the Spring and Autumn by Cecily Mary Barker. I found the sweet wooden puzzle on eBay and the fairytale dress on Amazon. I’m really excited about the dress so sharing the link here. Y’know usually the play dresses end up being kinda itchy, but the tulle on this one is so soft and the top is cotton -- nice medium weight cotton. And it’s not $50, much less than $50 in fact, coming in to just about what the fabric cost would be.

So there you go. What d’ye think? I’d love to hear more of y’alls great ideas!

On Easter Baskets and the Concrete Reality of the Resurrection

(First off, I’ve been watching a lot of Jeeves and Wooster lately, so certain phrases keep bubbling to the surface. Consider y’selves forewarned.)

Let's jump right in.

I’ve been thinking about Easter a lot. As a church festival I feel it often has a way of falling by the wayside the slightest bit. But as Protestants to the backbone, who believe in joyously hearty feast days and letting the church calendar (chronicling major events in the life of Christ specifically) shape our days and souls, there’s a rich mine here to be explored. It's like Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter, leading to the culmination of Ascension Day and ultimately rounding out with Pentecost -- are each a golden jewel, strung perfectly together, each lending fuller meaning and deeper understanding to the others. We need Christmas -- with its celebration of the full Godhead and humanity of Christ, the Light breaking into the darkness, pointing from the very beginning to the Cross -- and we need Easter, Christ's vindication and full rising in the flesh.

Yet while Easter’s a tremendous culmination, I’ve been puzzling over why it feels more ethereal than the others. Of all of the events it’s the most startling. The disciples were stunned and downright terrified. The earth quaked, a huge boulder rolled, rough blood stained Roman soldiers lay knocked out. All of this is a far cry from cutesiness.

Resurrection. New life. New creation. A restoration to the garden of Eden. Ezekiel’s river running out of the new temple and the entire world becoming a garden. Lucy’s loveliest of lovely stories in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader is something like it -- for the refreshment of the spirit. Or like the moment when Shasta bends to drink clear spring water from Aslan’s paw print.

“…after one glance at the Lion’s face he slipped out of the saddle and fell at its feet. He couldn’t say anything but then he didn’t want to say anything, and he knew he needn’t say anything.

“The High King above all kings stooped towards him. Its mane, and some strange and solemn perfume that hung about the mane, was all round him. It touched his forehead with its tongue. He lifted his face and their eyes met. Then instantly the pale brightness of the mist and the fiery brightness of the Lion rolled themselves together into a swirling glory and gathered themselves up and disappeared. He was alone with the horse on a grassy hillside under a blue sky. And there were birds singing.

“…‘Was it all a dream?’ wondered Shasta. But it couldn’t have been a dream for there in the grass before him he saw the deep, large print of the Lion’s front right paw. It took one’s breath away to think of the weight that could make a footprint like that. But there was something more remarkable than the size about it. As he looked at it, water had already filled the bottom of it. Soon it was full to the brim, and then overflowing, and a little stream was running downhill, past him, over the grass.

“Shasta stooped and drank -- a very long drink -- and then dipped his face in and splashed his head. It was extremely cold, and clear as glass, and refreshed him very much. After that he stood up, shaking the water out of his ears and flinging the wet hair back from his forehead, and began to take stock of his surroundings.”

I’m not directly equating Narnia and Easter at the moment, but it’s making me think more on the tone I want to foster in our home. Through all responding to the lavish goodness of God. Mystery, passion, wonder, and intense love.

And so now we get to the presents. If all our feast days are celebrating Christ’s tangible coming in the flesh, then I think (somewhere) there should be presents. And if Easter is a culmination in and of itself, snowballing to more and more glories, we need to think how to live this out in real earnest.

The world really doesn’t know how to embody the feast day. Because there’s no Santa Claus etc., from what I’ve read it tends to get lumped in more with the likes of Valentines Day. So we get left with people doing all sorts of rather confused buying, egg hunts, and Easter baskets.

I’ve never been crazy about Easter baskets. Not that there’s anything wrong with the colorful things. It’s just kinda hard to get super excited about plastic eggs and chocolate flavored candies. (Bitter, I know. Acerbic even. ;)) It’s not particularly even the whole goddesses and pagan bunnies thing (though of course that’s an issue). It’s that it’s all too cute. We do emphatically believe God created all the sweet, cuddly things of creation -- puppies and kittens and bunnies and downy ducklings. But when it comes to the great church festivals, I think we must be militantly beware of cuteness. (We can use it, we should just be very certain why we’re doing it.)

I’ve quoted this from The Christian Imagination before, but it’s worth highlighting again: “To many North Americans… Christianity seems soppy. That is because they have not seen the real goods. True Christian imaging meets violence head-on, mine and the world’s, but also God’s. The Christian imagination… must face the reality of Job’s cry, the cry of God’s crucifixion, and of our participation in it. Once this is recognized, faith becomes not only possible, but necessary; it can never again be rose-water belief in Santa Claus.”

So back to the presents.

First off, we’re not talking about breaking the bank. They can be homemade. Or maybe the Christmas budget could be adjusted and some of the gifts saved for Easter. And (if you watch how many things come in your house) this can still have a minimal approach as well. It’s in choosing things very intentionally.

When it comes to children particularly, and thinking on our new white garb in Christ, I love the idea of a new spring/summer church dress for girls. This could work just as well (and might carry nice emphasis) with new pants and a shirt for the little guys too. And this could fit right in too with a smaller, manageable wardrobe. They just wait to get their new things till Easter and then wear them consistently thereafter.

It can be something they need. (One sweet YouTuber mom I've enjoyed watching suggests giving their new swim outfit for the year.) Or a beautiful picture book. Or perhaps something children will share (new play dough or some sort of play set etc, etc). If you’re into games, maybe a new card or board game for the entire family. The idea is to give appropriate weight to it. And (this is a thought experiment) but thinking through the wrapping and presentation. Something wrapped up is most definitely a present -- a surprise. (Or on the other hand maybe an entirely different approach. There’re all sorts of creative presentation ideas out there. The idea is to think on it.)
 
So there ye are!

I’d really love to hear all your thoughts and if you’re interested in a follow up (including what the Little Princess is receiving this year along with a few home decorations and other ideas) let me know and I’ll try and whip my ideas into some sort of shortish crystallized word form. ;)

Have a lovely evening one and all!