Getting Lost In the Eggs and the Bunnies

Tomorrow is Easter. Some of you have already gathered as a family to celebrate Easter. You have shared a meal and probably had an Easter egg hunt for the children. Family gatherings are wonderful, stressful, filled with laughter and hugs, strained relationships, and relatives you are not sure you want to claim. Every family is a mixture of love, tolerance, irritating people, and family just being who they are.

You may desire your family and the meal to look like the perfect Hallmark movie. Someone drops their plate of food on the floor and the dog has a feast. Another person says something that offends half the family. Someone eats all the cookies, and one child cries because his cousin found more eggs and did not share them with him. But still, you gather as a family to celebrate. What are you really celebrating?

Sometimes you get lost in the eggs and the bunnies, the family disagreements and who is eating all the candy. You lose the reason for the gathering as a family. You get lost in life sometimes too – what is really important and what is just minutiae. So, what are you celebrating this Easter? Do Easter bunnies really bring eggs? Is the candy important?

Easter to me is about hope and love. God loves us so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, as the sacrifice for our sins. Jesus died on the cross on Good Friday. Easter is Resurrection Sunday – the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. He gives hope that death is defeated, and eternal life is given. Hope is also now; you do not need to live in the guilt of sin. The price has been paid through Jesus’ death. Easter hope confirms that you can live forgiven and live in hope.

You can get lost in what is important in many aspects of life, even in family relationships. It is getting lost in what someone did wrong years ago and not speaking to them now. It is focusing on the negatives and quirks of people and placing a judgment on them. It is getting lost in the differences and the choices of others and not the similarities and the love that binds you together. Families are challenging, but they are still family. Not all family situations are healthy, and you need to place a boundary of protection and distance in some cases. But when possible, it is loving those you regard as family and allowing them to be who they are.

In trying not to offend anyone, the meaning and purpose of Easter may get lost. Easter celebrates that Jesus has risen, and it is the beginning of the Christian faith that Jesus is Lord and Savior. That is what it means to me. I am not afraid to share what is important to me. It is your choice whether to believe and accept Jesus in faith.

It is not letting society define what is significant to you. Define for yourself what is important. Find your foundation and build upon it. It is not getting lost in what does not have meaning and purpose.

Elaine J. Sturtz

Living In The Different