Easter Celebrations & Traditions

[Carborendum]

Elder Gary E. Stevenson gave the opening address in the Saturday morning session of Conference.  He pointed to the First Presidency letter that was read in Sacrament Mtg a few weeks ago:

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That letter announced that next Sunday—Easter Sunday—all wards and branches are to meet for sacrament meeting only, leaving additional time for worship at home as families to commemorate this most important holiday.

Like most people, I didn't really pay much attention to the bolded portion at first.  All I got out of it was a change to my calendar.  That was all.  But eventually something else happened.  A few things happened actually.

First. the music.

Our choir sang The Miracle.  Unfortunately, the second part is obviously a high tenor,  and we only have one tenor.  We have three baritones and one true bass (one of my sons).  So our version was... different.  But it really felt good to sing it.  Because I'm a baritone, I had to practice and warm up a LOT to get my voice to hit those high notes. They're pretty high.  The choir really got it together, and the director was very patient with our shortcomings.  In the end a lot of people went to the director and complimented her on the piece.  I think a lot of people really felt the Spirit of Christ from that song.

Then there is the long story of the next piece.  I have submitted the song to be sung through four bishops and two wards (in two stakes) for the past six years (this was the seventh).  Something always went wrong. 

SURPRISE, I actually got to perform Via Dolorosa this year.  And the pianist nailed it.  What was pleasing to me is the expressions on the congregation's faces.  They really felt it.  They were right there in Jerusalem.  It was beautiful.  Then I realized that I really felt it.

Then we went home

When we got home, we basically went right back to doing what we normally do on Sundays after church.  We don't do Easter Egg hunts on Easter.  We feel that it is too secular to muddy the waters.  So, we do that the week or two before.  We couldn't this year because of weather.

Our Easter traditions consists of one thing.  We have a modified Passover Seder where we sorta "Christianize" the dinner.  But during the afternoon when we normally use our day of rest to... rest.  This year it was different.  My wife came to me and said,"We've been given extra time to spend with our families and dedicate this day to the Atonement and the Resurrection.  What should we do?  Well, we ended up doing some stuff.

What did you do?

Edited April 10, 2023 by Carborendum

[Ironhold]

Due to matters beyond my control, I arrived 45 minutes into sacrament. 

I stood outside in the hallway, one earbud in my ear so I could hear "American Top 40 with Casey Kasem: The 80s" while also listening to what was left of the meeting. 

I then ducked out because I had to put in an hour at work* and then do a few errands. 

I came home, helped my mom prepare dinner, then had a long nap until late in the evening, when I listened to the radio for a bit, watched wrestling, and listened to the radio a little more, finally going to bed at around 5 AM this morning. 

 

 

*The paper I'm with is so small I have to help with deliveries. We publish on Thursday evenings, and I handle delivering the comp bundles to various city offices and so forth. Most of these places were closed for Good Friday, and so I traditionally deliver them on Sunday so they aren't sitting outside for a few days.

[Vort]

VORT'S OPINION OF EASTER, PRE-2023

Easter is sort of an invented holiday. It's a worthy enough reason to celebrate, to be sure, but let's not pretend it has any real divine significance. It does not. The modern kingdom of God has no "holidays", except for the normal weekly Sabbath that we celebrate every Sunday. Bede said that Easter is named for the west Germanic Eostre, goddess of springtime, when the light finally beats back the darkness. That celebration included fertility symbols such as eggs and rabbits, so clearly we just coopted that thoroughly pagan celebration and dressed it up in Christian vestments. It's a pagan observation feted as a holiday by fallen Christianity, and we sometimes join in just because why not? But that is the end of it. Celebrate it as you see fit or ignore it altogether. It's all good.

VORT'S OPINION OF EASTER, 2023+

What? Did I just hear President Nelson proclaim Easter as a sacred holiday that we should take pains to celebrate? I, um, it's, that is, we, uh, I, you, well, the thing is, I mean, we all know that, um, okay, here's the deal, uhhh...

[mordorbund]

We read the Easter story in Mark. Then I mentioned that Elder Stevenson compared family Easter traditions with family Christmas traditions and asked if they wanted to act out the Easter story. No takers.

[Vort]

3 hours ago, mordorbund said:

We read the Easter story in Mark. Then I mentioned that Elder Stevenson compared family Easter traditions with family Christmas traditions and asked if they wanted to act out the Easter story. No takers.

I wonder how many have tried through the ages to compare Mary's sorrow and travail in bringing forth the Savior with Jesus' sorrow and travail in bringing forth salvation.

[Traveler]

There are many Latter-day traditions that we (wife and I) have maintained over the years.  I have referenced before that the wife and I are a rather odd couple.   Some examples:  She is a beach vacation person – I am a mountain wilderness type.  She loves rock and pop culture music – I am a jazz and classical fan.  I love reading and intellectual pursuits (love studying and discussing scriptures, science, politics, religion and history) – my wife prefers socializing, small talk, spending both planned and unstructured time with friends and keeping busy with upkeep of the house and landscape (something I have felt is mostly a waist of time).  We maintained family home evening with great difficulty.  One of the big jokes was during a Christmas family gathering (including our grandkids) my wife had prepared a short reference to the birth of Christ.  As always, our boys (even with families of their own) were goofing off – the wife in frustration, trying to hold down her voice, said, “Sometimes I hate my family.”  Everyone burst out laughing because it is so outside her character – she is the spiritual heart and glue of our family.  It brought the wife to tears but, in a way, endears and unities our family – though it is still talked about and joked – there is a reverence and respect for my wife centered in a love for her and what she is to our family.  We have a few children that have turned from the Church but no one argues spiritual things with my wife. 

When we moved back to Utah many years ago a friend in our word worked for the church doing research.  He told me some interesting things about families.  For a ward to survive it must have what my friend called “Power Families” – a minimum of five of them.  What was discovered is that the single most important element of a power family is that they regularly all participated in “fun” activities and time together.  Having fun was more important than reading scriptures together regularly, having family prayer every day and regular family home evenings with a spiritual lesson.  Not that spiritual things should be avoided – just that the #1 most important family element is for all to enjoy being around each other.

I am lucky because my wife is perhaps the most enjoyable person to be around that I have ever known.  This makes her very popular with just about everybody.  She has a way to make everyone feel good and happy.  She is not a scholar nor a scripture expert, but she is devoted to G-d and Christ and is spiritual in a way that always affects others to want to be better themselves.   For all our differences – she completes me.

This Easter we got all the family in town together for Easter and a dinner.  My job was to grill some ribs.  While I was getting the grill ready one enterprising grandson hid some plastic eggs with candy in the grill while I was in the house – then when I came back out to turn on the grill in final prep for dinner – the plastic eggs melted all over everything.  Another humorous story to add to our family collection that makes one particular young grandson a celebrity to be forever remember in family lore.

I came from a line of Latter-day generations of pioneers that kept family records and family histories.  We do tell the stories of Christ – especially during holidays – but we also tell stories of ancestors and current cousins – and of course the stories of our current family.

 

The Traveler

[mikbone]

Saturday I walked a local cemetery.  Tried to imagine Christ in the tomb.  And his whirlwind tour of paradise.

Sunday we woke up sick.  Skipped church and slept like the dead.

Still managed to watch the little ones pick up chocolate from the front yard (the older kids were the Easter Bunnies this year).

Ham, smashed taters, and pink fluff for dinner.

Edited April 11, 2023 by mikbone

[mordorbund]

5 hours ago, Vort said:

I wonder how many have tried through the ages to compare Mary's sorrow and travail in bringing forth the Savior with Jesus' sorrow and travail in bringing forth salvation.

Greate are the words of Isaiah.

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When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days ... He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: ... for he shall bear their iniquities.