Let Them Eat (Bunny) Cake!

I have always liked Easter. When I was a kid, we'd put out our Easter basket before we went to bed on Saturday night, and when we'd get up, it would be filled with candy and the eggs would be hidden around the house for us to find, some containing additional candy or, if we were lucky, money. The years we spent Easter at Mamaw's house included afternoons filled with multiple egg hunts (courtesy of the dads and uncles) and sometimes matching dresses for all of the girl cousins.

When we started going to church regularly, Easter weekend included a big egg hunt at church on Saturday and sunrise service on Easter morning. Mom was always in charge of the egg hunt, so I got to dye dozens of eggs, help make bunny or chick cakes, and for several years, dress up (along with my cousin) as the Easter bunny to hide eggs. Sunrise service meant getting up early, eating Brother Ralph's pancakes, taking a little nap, then putting on a new dress for church, where I'd usually to sing in the Easter cantata.

As an adult, I have come to appreciate Easter differently. I started participating in Lent while in college. Since then I have tried to either give up or take on something for the Lenten season. It helps when the Attorney and I choose the same thing so we can support each other. This year we gave up Cokes (in all their various forms and name brands) and sweets/desserts. Although we both strayed at times, omitting these things from our lives caused us to pause and reflect on the true meaning of the season, which of course is the point. My current church celebrates Holy Week and our traditions have become as meaningful to me than the cherished childhood memories listed above. I like the ritual, the symbolism. My favorite is the sound of the nails dropping into a metal bucket at the end of the Good Friday service. The sanctuary has been stripped of all it's Palm Sunday glory. The pulpit and communion table are shrouded in black. A simple cross and crown of thorns are all that is left. We leave the darkened sanctuary in silence, accompanied only by the "thunk, thunk, thunk" of metal hitting metal. It's powerful.

We rarely get to go home for Easter weekend. So we have established traditions of our own. We usually have Easter lunch with our extended family of friends here, other couples who also don't get to travel home. Yesterday we had 13 people (including 3 kids) and 3 dogs. After a rainy morning, the sun burst through and we were able to enjoy our potluck lunch on the porch. The Attorney sliced his traditional honey baked ham and we ended the meal with my traditional bunny cake (modified slightly from my mom's recipe since the Attorney does not care for coconut). The kids smashed cascarones (Mexican confetti eggs) on whoever they could reach, hid eggs, climbed trees and ruined their Easter clothes. The dogs, including Lola in her very own pink with while polka dotted Easter bandanna, ran and played and got under every one's feet. We sat on the porch for most of the afternoon, enjoying the company and the sunshine.

Thanks be to God for the gift of Christ. Thanks be that resurrection is not just limited to that one moment. Thanks be for traditions and family and friends. Thanks be.