Thoughts on Easter

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we celebrate on Easter, is the single most important event in mankind's history.  Regardless of whether or not people are good or bad, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ means we'll all live forever. Immortality is guaranteed. Imagine the teacher saying, "Even if you get a 0% on this test, you'll still pass the class." Jesus told us essentially the same thing when he said, "[D]eath hath passed upon all men" (2 Nephi 9:6).

Yet, the blessing of immortality is rarely mentioned during Easter. Instead, we celebrate bunnies and eggs. Why bunnies and eggs? The tradition became common in the 19^th century when people saw that bunnies’ litters, which are rather large, bearing new life (http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/17597617). The meaning, however, has been lost in time; we only think of egg hunts and chocolate bunnies during the holiday. To make matters more confusing, the name of the holiday—Easter—means Passover. However, Passover did not even occur during the resurrection of Jesus Christ; rather, it was the week before the resurrection. I'm left to conclude the meaning of "Easter" and our celebrations have distracted us from the true meaning of Easter. 

Easter should be a holiday of joy, hope, and peace. How can we experience these three things? I suggest three things: (1) Reading the account of Christ just like we read Luke 2 during Christmas. (2) Doing family history of our ancestors. (3) Expressing our love and gratitude for our Heavenly Father for the atonement of Jesus Christ.

Even though I just wrote a list of how to respect God, don’t see myself as an incredibly religious person; rather, I see this holiday as incredibly sacred. While Christ didn’t specifically command us to keep the holiday sacred, I believe keeping Easter special is a poignant way to show how much we appreciate His divine sacrifice.