A friend of mine asked today for my opinion on why there is always more attention on Christmas than Easter. Here is what I told her.
I think people focus on Christmas more because of all the gifts and all the marketing. There's less marketing for Easter because you can buy chocolate bunnies anytime of year, but Christmas involves songs and horse drawn carriage rides and lights on houses and trees all aglow. Christmas is a season; Easter is a day. I would think that has a lot to do with it. Easter has been secularized, as has Christmas, but when you can get gameboys, bicycles AND candy or you can get a basket of plastic eggs filled with jelly beans, which are you going to put more emphasis on?
If people really knew what was important (the gift of eternal life rather than the gifts that come in boxes covered with curly ribbons), they would see the priority of Easter. What Christ did at Easter is essential to the Christian faith. Without it, He's just a baby boy born in a barn, laying in a feed trough.
4 comments:
What Christ did at Easter is essential to the Christian faith. Without it, He's just a baby boy born in a barn, laying in a feed trough.
I think that in and of itself is part of the reason Christmas is more celebrated than Easter. There isn't anything inherently offensive about a baby lying in a feed trough - anyone can feel comfortable going along with that.
But if we admit that the baby walked out of the grave to never die again... that's a different story. And if we celebrate Easter, we might need to examine the what that event calls us to do...
Thanks Chris. Very true. Everyone loves sweet little babies. And we see babies all the time. It's easy to believe in them. But raising from the dead seems too supernatural, too zombie.
Plus thinking that life maybe isn't just about ourselves is pretty difficult. I know, let's just whisper that part...
Family Circle had a cartoon during the Easter season in which the little boy sees a picture of Jesus on the cross and tells his mom that he likes the baby Jesus better.
Why? Because the Easter Jesus reminds us of our depravity (yes, total) and the purpose for which He came. We don't like to think about sinfulness and our inherent nature. Easter provides no route but to force us to consider the cost of our sins.
Oh BTW -- missing you on Friday nights!
I believe that what we are seeing is the influence of protestantism and their lack of understanding of the requirement to work at becoming a holy person. They do not believe that a person can become holy, so why should one do all of this? Everyone might as well party and have a good time. Christ's sacrifice will cover up all their sins, so it doesn't matter what they do!!! They literally do not understand the fixation of Catholics on the Passion. . . witness their empty crosses.
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