Easter or Eostre is the Old English word for which Christian celebration? That’s right — Easter
Lihavotted is the Estonian name for? Yep — Easter
Curtis City, Nebraska holds an annual pageant on Palm Sunday and is known as Nebraska’s ‘what” city”? — Right again, Easter City.
You may have guessed, but this blog is going to be about Easter. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, but often times, Easter brings thoughts of the Easter Bunny and eggs.
When our kids were small, Claire took them to the White House egg roll at least a few times, and they always seemed to have some sort of a rabbit associated with the holiday. So today, while Easter is the most important religious holiday for Christians, a lot, or most, people associate it with a bunny who brings eggs. That’s always seemed a little strange to me, since rabbits don’t lay eggs — or, deliver gifts.
Easter is an especially attractive day for candy makers — the only other holiday that beats it for candy sales is Halloween. The most popular candy is chocolate eggs. The jelly bean, another egg-shaped candy became associated with Easter in the 1930s. The best selling non-chocolate candy is Peeps — a marshmallow, sugary concoction shaped like a chick, or maybe a duck — I forget.
Easter actually began as a pagan holiday, but as it migrated to a Christian occasion, Easter eggs came to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. The decoration of eggs dates back to at least the 13th century. One explanation for the custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting and then eat them on Easter as a celebration.
Today, the the Easter Bunny is considered a sort of springtime Santa Claus. There is an obvious religious connection between the two holidays — Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ and Easter celebrates His resurrection. And both Santa and the Bunny reward children with candy and treats for good behavior. So the association is there and there would be no Christmas if there was no Easter.
We’re especially looking forward to this Easter — it’ll be the first one we get to spend with both Emily and Locke — oh, and their parents. Happy Easter, everyone.
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