"Are children missing the real point of Easter?"
Almost every child around the world will wake up on Sunday morning to the exciting expectation of receiving ridiculous amounts of chocolate and goodies. We will spoil and over indulge eachother, go on holidays and enjoy time off work and school. But why is this time of year so special? Most children will rattle off something about the Easter Bunny, and how he brings them chocolate if they are good. So more and more we are using this holiday as a reason to bribe our children to be well behaved. I would say with absolute confidence that MOST children are completely missing the point of Easter. I do understand that it is a difficult concept to make kids aware of, but I have come up with a winning formula that I am willing to share with you all.
Firstly, Good Friday. My children know that every year we have hot cross buns on Good Friday, and both my five year old and my three year old understand why. We eat a hot cross bun on Good Friday to remember that Jesus died on the cross for us. It is that simple. Just one thing, one day, one step at a time. Now, I know that hot cross buns were not originally a part of christianity, and that they were only introduced to help assimilate the 'pagans'. However, it does not change the fact that it is a fantastic tool to help remind children of the day's true meaning. I do not care where it came from, all that matters to me is why I and my children do it.
Secondly, Easter Sunday. This one gets a bit trickier, but my five year old understands it well enough. We tell them that the Easter Bunny brings them chocolate eggs every Easter to remind them of the new life that Jesus had when he came back to life. My daughter is under the firm belief that the Easter Bunny is, well, almost an angel, or a messenger of God. He is sent by Jesus to remind us of his gift to us, by giving us another gift each year. My younger children, all they hear is blah, blah, blah chocolate. But the eldest gets the concept quite well. Again, I am aware that the egg did not originally come from christianity, but in my household, it represents what I say it does, and not some thousand year old custom. Besides, the idea works, and sticks in their minds.
So there you have it. Two simple ways of reminding children the importance of this special holiday, without taking away the special treats that they look forward to so much. But the sad truth is, no one seems to care about why they do things, only that they get the reward (in this case the chocolate). I think that we all need to remember to always take a little time out of our day to explain the 'whys' of the things we do to our children. After all, it is the 'why' that is the most important thing in this world.
Please, let me know if you think Easter is a mistunderstood holiday or not. Happy Easter.
-T.J.
I get sadder every year as I see how Easter is being totally devalued & changed by the advertising media. To them it is a convenient holiday & a chance to sell vast quantities of chocolate. I agree that most children around the world look forward to Easter in order to get sick on chocolate & don't stop to think about the real meaning of this time. If truth be told, I don't think that many adults are aware of the true meaning of Easter & that is sadder than anything.
ReplyDeleteI am extremely pleased & proud that you have instilled into your children the true story of Easter. As you said, hot cross buns are fairly easy to explain & I can just imagine your boys only thinking about chocolate. Typical of little children that they only think of what they like to eat.
My wish & prayer for this Easter is that more parents will teach their children the true meaning of Easter which will then be carried through to their children's children eventually.
I love Easter, not for the chocolate, but for the promise of eternal life that it caused so many years ago. The sacrifice & suffering that Jesus endured was more than ANY normal person could ever endure. Only the true Son of God could & did overcome death in order to save us all from eternal damnation.
If any of you disagree with this then feel free to ignore Easter & keep working as usual as this time is not for you !
For the rest of us, blessings for Easter & thanks to Jesus for His sacrifice.
I wonder if you go into what the other days of Easter represent, why we do no eat certain things on certain days so on and so on. I for one thing spent the good part of two hours trying to explain to my non religious partner what certain days represent and why we do what we do. My partner has respect for others beliefs and does not work on significant days out of respect for this reason. A day off is of no concern to a business owner when it means you loose out on earning potential. It all comes down to the actions of the parents and how they follow through with their actions, we do not need to give our children chocolate eggs to symbolize new life... (As I have done in the past) we can use baby chicks or other baby animals in toys.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that your family will be criticized for your approach to Easter. That usually means that you are on the correct track.
ReplyDeleteIt gives me great hope for the future of our nation when young families are able to forsake the attitudes & actions of their peers & follow the Christian path that we ALL have in our hearts & yet so few of us actually follow.
WELL DONE !!
I of course also applaud you for teaching your children the real meaning of easter. That is, that Jesus lived, died and rose again. But I would, as you know, disagree with teaching children about the easter bunny etc. Why do we feel the need to allegorise everything with children? Why not just tell them the scriptural meaning of easter without involving the easter bunny. I reject the notion that a symbol can mean whatever you decide it means and that's that. You can't just tattoo a 666 on your head and decide that it means world peace. Symbols are a reflection of your allegiance. The bible mentions two sorts of people who get the mark of the beast in the last days. Those who truly ally themselves with the beast in the heart, and those who may not be allied with the beast at heart but blindly receive its mark anyway. When we celebrate ancient pagan fertility festivals are we allying ourselves with the God of heaven our Satan who invented paganism to deceive men. The other thing is that when we link the easter bunny and santa claus with real christian things we are confusing the real and the fantasy. When children finally learn that the easter bunny and santa claus are just fantasy, they are very likely to conclude that God is a fantasy as well. There are millions of atheists all over the world who have concluded that God is just fantasy. Next year, my family will be celebrating a truly biblical celebration of the season, passover. That way, we can reflect on what Jesus did for us without the pagan overtones.
ReplyDelete