EASTER, EASTER EGGS AND EASTER BUNNY
This coming March 30 will be Easter Holiday, a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, which described in the New Testament as having occurred on the third day of his burial after his crucifixion by Romans at Calvary c. 30 AD [1,2]. The week before Easter is called Holly Week, which contains Last Supper, Good Friday, and Death of Jesus....
Now the stores are full of the colored Easter Eggs and Easter Bunny Decorations. Many of you may wonder what does Jesus have to do with these eggs and bunnies.
Easter customs vary across the Christian world, and include a lot of symbols. The Easter egg itself was defined by early Christians as an Easter symbol of the resurrection of Jesus: the egg symbol was likened to the tomb from which Christ arose. The Easter Bunny originally was fertility symbol. So far, Christians think the Easter Bunny brings the Easter eggs for the children. Therefore, there is traditional Easter egg hunting activity on the Easter Sunday Evening.
We have experienced to celebrate the Easter Holidays in four different countries. In Singapore and Canada, the holidays last four days from Friday to Monday. In Hong Kong and America, the holidays last three days from Friday to Sunday. Before moving to America, I did not remember we have any activities related to the eggs hunting and bunny decoration during the Easter Holiday. Only thing I remembered was to attend a church for Sunday's Worship. There we were served with a small piece of cookie meaning the Last Supper and a tiny cup of red juice representing the blood of Jesus. Then, the pastor gave the special presentation, which was usually lasted one hour. Evening, we listened Jesu's stories or watched Jesus's movies at the church classroom.
Living in USA, we spent three Easter holidays with Christian and did same things at the church. Additionally, we have joined the college students for hunting the Easter Eggs. On Sunday evening, the colored plastic eggs filled with prizing items were hidden around campus. We searched everywhere for finding them as more as possible. My friend's mother, a senior lady, almost forgot her age. She was rushing through landscape, clambing up to hills, jumping down to a tunnel and running around buildings, and eventually collected a basket of the Easter Eggs. After the game ending, she opened the Easier Eggs one by one. Some of them were empty, but the most of them were filled with the chocolates, candies and snacks. Looking at those stuffs, she was smiling like baby. Indeed joining this activity, we all found a lot of fun.
References
1. Bernard Trawicky, Ruth Wilhelme Gregory (2000). Anniversaries and Holidays. American Library Association. ISBN 9780838906958.
2. Aveni, Anthony (2004). "The Easter/Passover Season: Connecting Time's Broken Circle", The Book of the Year: A Brief History of Our Seasonal Holidays. Oxford University Press. pp. 64–78. ISBN 0-19-517154-3.
