Resurrecting Easter 4/20/2025

By: Jennifer Richardson Holt

I have very fond memories of Easter.  The reminiscence from my childhood has me recalling some aspects that remain unchanged as well as some that only remain in my mind as I no longer have the pleasure of enjoying them.  For some reason this year I am lending this holiday more contemplation as I feel like I tend to overlook it. While I don’t excessively decorate my home for it like I do on other occasions, I do always do certain things to celebrate. And truly, the more I ponder, the more I realize how much this day actually means to me and that I should give it the appropriate attention. Since this publishes on that very special Sunday, feel free to take the journey with me as I travel down Easters past and present and what the celebration of this most holy and joyous holiday has looked like and how it looks for me now.

One of my most beloved memories of Easter long ago, is sunrise services. Yes, some congregations do still have them, but they certainly aren’t as commonly found as they were when I was a child. I remember the church I attended in my childhood from roughly the age of 5 until well into adulthood had them every year. Usually, they would be outside under the big oak trees beside the tiny brick church building. I was never a big fan of getting up extra early, while it wasn’t technically as the sun came up, but it was usually in the 6:30-7:00 range and that was not particularly to my liking. We didn’t put on our fancy Easter attire. That would be saved for the regular service. Since most times this service was going to be a tad chilly you just put on something you could stay warm in, and it wasn’t anything notable in the aesthetic sense. One older lady, who actually still attends that church and is a much older lady now, would bring her accordion so we could have music with the hymns we sang out under the trees in addition to the sounds of the birds waking up.   Mostly it was the older folks that came to the sunrise service (other than me, that wasn’t given an option by my parents) because they were all already up and about anyways. After some of the first of these services I can remember we would have breakfast. Now, you need to keep in mind this was breakfast provided by small town southern grandma’s and the occasional grandpa and to call them anything short of glorious would be doing them a disservice.  There were one lady’s cheese biscuits, these glorious homemade buttermilk biscuits that were sandwiched around melty cheddar that I remember so clearly that I have begun to drool as I typed that. While I didn’t love the early rise, the breakfast made it worthwhile and, being outside while the world came to life commemorating the very first Easter, had a certain enchantment that made the resurrection all the more real.

Another quality of Easter that I did in years past that I still do but in a slightly different way is meals with family and egg hunts. Since I’ve been married the Saturday before the holiday is always Easter meal with my husband’s family followed by egg hunting, or some years egg hunting followed by meal but still the criteria are the same. There will be enough food to feed a small army, and ham will always be included as is tradition. There will also be enough eggs hidden to feed a small army however some are of the plastic, inedible variety so the army fed by the hidden eggs specifically might not be quite as large as the one that could be fed by the spread in his Mema’s kitchen. And every year if some of the eggs are not found (and that does happen frequently with the sheer number of eggs hidden and the vast area they are hidden in) my husband’s PawPaw will always make the same statement saying that he’ll find them with the lawnmower. It’s interesting to me to note that while the number of children hunting has dwindled the huge number of eggs has not.

After Church on Sunday is when we eat with my family and since we now have my daughter, it is required that we hunt eggs at our house yet again with this different set of relatives. The eggs will be hidden and found, then this will be repeated multiple times with the hiders and the seekers taking turns rotating. This year we plan to watch a movie after the hunting as well so it should be an enjoyable and full day overall assuming the egg hunt isn’t prolonged to an excessive amount of turns for everyone. But then again, if it does take its sweet time, I understand it. For the most part this is a once-a-year activity so, my daughter feels it should be milked for all it is worth.

My family and I still attend church every Easter (every other Sunday but still) though our current congregation doesn’t do a sunrise version of things.  And another thing that will be the same as all my Easters past, I try to have a lovely outfit for the day. Now it won’t be the frilly pastel colored dress of my childhood, but it will likely involve spring colors. And I will choose something lovely for my daughter to wear to church as well. If you’re wondering, this year it is a pink dress with a bit of lace.  It twirls well, which is a pivotal characteristic that my daughter looks for in a dress. My husband, daughter and I will try to look especially springy and festive as we go to celebrate one of the most pivotal moments of really our entire way of life.

I have made no effort to hide that I am a Christ follower.  This day celebrates the culmination, the finishing of His work that makes my faith unique to any other. The God I worship became man, suffered died and rose back to life, all so that He could have an eternal relationship with His hopelessly flawed creation. I should shout from the rooftops at what this day means! This day gives, not just me but all of humanity hope.  All it requires of us is to accept this gift He freely offers and then hand our life over to Him. The first part sounds easy, but the second can sound daunting unless you understand a few things. He invented us, knows us down to every molecule, He knows what our futures hold, what our lives will bring, and He is fully aware of the perfect path for us to take. So, to turn one’s life over to the One who knows exactly what is best isn’t really so much giving up control as it is making a beautifully wise decision. The resurrection of Christ that I celebrate on Easter is remarkable in that it exemplifies the lengths His love for us was willing to go and how unfathomable its depths are. So, this year, as I celebrate, I want every aspect to remind me of what I should focus on. Eggs hidden amongst spring flowers are symbols of new life, which He offers by His return to life. The birds singing in the morning shout forth the glory of His creation.  Gathering with family and feasting reminds me of the close communal relationship that He wants to have with us as a Father with His children. Lambs, bunnies and chicks all helpless little creatures that must depend upon a power greater than themselves to grow and be sustained, just like our Maker longs for us to depend on Him. Of course, when I get to church and sings songs to worship Him and hear my Pastor speak of His love for us, I will revel in it all the more with people who are just as in awe of Him as I am. But it won’t have to be in the pews that the true glory of the day is celebrated. Everything, every bird, blossom, smile and moment will shout that the work is done, the tomb is empty, and He did it all for us!