Is It Halloween or Easter?

Recently, I was shopping in the Super Wal-Mart not far from my home, when I happened to pass the “holiday promotion” aisle. Of course, this time of year, the shelves were brimming with Easter candy, Easter bunnies, and Easter baskets, all in lovely pastel colors of pink, yellow, and purple. But wait, what was this? A Shrek head? A Spiderman basket? A smiling soccer ball? It appeared that the traditional Easter motif had some competition. How strange, I thought, shaking my head and continuing on my way. Who would buy such a thing for their children? After all, it isn’t Halloween; it is Easter.

A few days later, I was in Kohl’s, shopping for some pretty, pastel Easter socks. How odd, I observed. No bunnies. No egg patterns. No cute floral designs. What was that? You have black socks with a skull and crossbones design in the hosiery department? Surely, you jest. It is, after all, Easter and not Halloween.

Several days after my trip to Kohl’s, I decided to shop online for some Easter items. Since I was looking for footwear, I headed over to the Joy of Socks. They had a few pairs of Easter socks with the traditional bunny and egg designs, alongside more hosiery sporting more skulls. I even found a pair of thigh-high lacy stockings with a spider web design. Those were sold out! Meanwhile the pastel bunnies languished in obscurity.

So where was I when the Easter bus left town? Did the Boogie Man and his minions kidnap the Easter bunny ala The Nightmare Before Christmas? Was I cranially in absentia when some massive cultural reinterpretation occurred? Easter does involve death…a death…the death of Christ…on Good Friday. Given that, I suppose some greedy corporation could advance an argument that skull and crossbones socks are an Easter-season fashion item. Of course, I would consider such an explanation complete lunacy, but I digress…It is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT to remember that Easter involves resurrection…a resurrection…the only resurrection that saved any of us from eternal damnation… the resurrection of Christ. Easter represents life.

So if pagan symbols of death bother me on Easter, why am I not concerned about pagan symbols of life --- like the bunny rabbit and the egg and various flowers? Because they can be used as vehicles to explain the new life that we all have in Christ. Take the bunny rabbit, for example. Anyone who knows anything about rabbits understands their capacity to reproduce. What better symbol for new life could you possibly find than that, unless, of course, you had chosen a guppy? And what about the egg? Almost every new life on earth is born from an egg of some sort, including humans. As for the flowers, well, that should be obvious. Who doesn’t see the signs of new life when crocuses and daffodils emerge every spring? Just as we receive new life in Christ, so God can use these pagan symbols as witnesses to that life.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV

So where does that leave the Shrek head, the Spiderman basket, and the smiling soccer ball? With blatant commercialism and nothing more. In my opinion, those items should be stocked in the warehouse until October when they can be more appropriately displayed as part of Halloween, not Easter.

Lenten Devotions

Now that we are five days into the Lenten season, I finally found a daily devotional for Gooseberry Lane. It is called Time for Renewal and it hails from Lutheran Hour Ministries. Here is the introduction from their website:

In these 40 days leading to Easter, we reflect on God’s love in action through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. And by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are renewed. For it is within these 40 days that we come face to face with the depth of our own sin, the very sin for which Jesus Christ died on the cross. And on Easter we rejoice in victory as we celebrate that Jesus’ death and resurrection give us life with Him for all eternity.

So, take a few minutes in the morning and listen to the daily podcast, accessible in the upper right-hand corner of the blog. It will help you focus your thinking and remain mindful of the reason for this current holiday season.

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, that 40-day* observance in the Christian church when believers remember Christ’s journey to the cross. For those who may be unfamiliar with this “holy day,” it is believed to date from the eighth century, as evidenced by the discovery of the name “dies cinerum,” or day of ashes, in copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary from that era. The most common activity on this day: church attendance for the purpose of receiving ashes in the shape of a cross on your forehead. Generally, the ashes should remain in place until after sundown.

Why ashes? Penitence. In the words of Aelfric, a tenth-century Anglo-Saxon homilist:

In the books, both in the Old Law and in the New, that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent, that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins… (Aelfric, Lives of Saints, ed. Skeat, I, 262-266)

The application of ashes to the forehead is usually accompanied by one of three instructional phrases:

“Remember...that you are dust and unto dust you shall return.”**
“Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.”
“Repent, and hear the good news.”

Where does the Church acquire these ashes? By burning palm leaves from the previous Palm Sunday (March 1, 2006) and mixing them with olive oil as a fixative. Of course, in this day and age, you can purchase them as well. For more information about that, visit Ash-Wednesday.org.

My Ash Wednesday was quiet and due to a last-minute scheduling conflict I was unable to attend church. For anyone else who missed the corporate worship event of the day, may I suggest this short devotional, taken from the Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America, 1958? Note: I updated the “thee,” “thou,” and “-eth” usages in an effort to enhance readability. I also substituted the phrase “Holy Spirit” for the phrase “Holy Ghost.” Have a blessed day.

* Sundays are not included in this calculation.
** from Genesis 3:19.
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INTROIT (prayer)
I will cry unto God most High : unto God that performs all things for me. Yea, in the shadow of your wings will I make my refuge : until these calamities be overpast. Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me : for my soul trusts in you. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit : as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

PSALM
Psalm 51

COLLECT (prayer)
Almighty and everlasting God, who hates nothing that He has made, and does forgive the sins of all those who are peniten t: Create and make in us new and contrite hearts, that we, worthily lamenting our sins, and acknowledging our wretchedness, may obtain of you, the God of all mercy, perfect remission and forgiveness; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.

LESSON
Joel 2:12-19

EPISTLE
1 John 1:5-9

GRADUAL (response to the Epistle)
Be merciful unto me, O God, be merciful unto me : for my soul trusts in you. He shall send from heaven : and save me from the reproach of him that would swallow me up.

He has not dealt with us after our sins : nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Help us, O God of our salvation; for the glory of your Name.

GOSPEL
Matthew 6:16-21

LORD’S PRAYER

BENEDICTION
The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make his face shine upon you,
And be gracious unto you.
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Amen.

Shrove Tuesday

Today is Shrove Tuesday, or Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, or Carnivale, depending on where you live. It is a day for celebrating, eating pancakes (if you are English), and announcing the advent of Lent. So, why do people party so heartily before this holiday arrives?

To begin, let’s be honest, I could search the Bible until I turned green and I would find neither Christ nor his disciples celebrating Shrove Tuesday. It is a “holy day” that was probably created by the Church, has probably been around for centuries, and probably has some sort of ill will, corruption, or doctrinal error associated with it. Be that as it may, “holy days” remain useful tools for commemoration.

So what am I commemorating by observing Shrove Tuesday? A day of preparation. Personally, in practical terms, I make sure my plans for the Lenten season are solidified: my Bible study materials are set, my church attendance schedule is planned, and I am aware of special events and commitments that need my attention from February 21st-April 7th. Spiritually, I look back at Advent, the time of preparation for Christ’s birth, and I recognize that Shrove Tuesday marks the gateway to Lent, the time of preparation for Christ’s atoning death.

So why the grand celebrations? For centuries, Church tradition interpreted Lent as a time of deprivation. Parishioners were encouraged to “give something up,” usually meat, for the 40-day observance, an exercise intended (I suppose) to personalize the reality of sacrifice. If I suffer by sacrificing something for the duration of Lent, how much more did Christ suffer by sacrificing His life for an eternity? As often happens, though, what probably began as a theological activity to increase awareness, morphed into a requirement, and so and so on. If I know that I am expected to be serious, meditative, and deprived for forty days, I could be motivated to let off some steam before the entire episode begins; hence, the parties and celebrations of Fat Tuesday.

For the record, I don’t party on Shrove Tuesday. I eat pancakes for breakfast and make sure I am prepared for Christ’s journey to the cross. Lent begins tomorrow. Are you ready?