What Ever Happened to Easter?
On Passover, we talked about how to create your holiday traditions and celebrations when your family is growing. What happens, though, when you find yourself at the other end of the spectrum? When those you love are gone from your life?
Perhaps your mother died, or your grandfather doesn't "remember you any more." Perhaps your daughter went off to college, or your fiance went into active service. Perhaps you have moved across county because you could not find work here, and your family and friends are not near. Perhaps you and your spouse are no longer together.
There are many ways people can leave our lives. So where does that leave us? We often miss not only the person who has gone. We miss our routines. We miss our traditions.
Which leads me to: What Ever Happened to Easter?
I was having breakfast with my friend and colleague, Camille, the other morning. We happen to be coming up on Camille's birthday, the first anniversary of her husband's death, AND Easter.
Camille, and some of her Friends, wanted to know:
"What ever happened to Easter?
I want to eat ham!
I want to wear an Easter dress and a hat!"
Camille needed to create a new tradition. She longed to go back to the pleasant nastalgia of the old ways, but she needed to create a new way to do it. She needed a new tradition that fit into her current circumstances and lifestyle.
So, this Easter, they gathered a group of friends to join together for Easter Dinner. Each friend is going to bring a dish from their "good old days" of celebrating Easter or Passover with the friends and family who were once part of their lives. They are literally taking "something old" and mixing it with "something new."
Are there rituals and traditions you want to keep, even though the people you lovingly shared them with are not with you any longer? Ask yourself how you can bring the fond memories of your past into the present time...the present circumstances...with the people who love you and whom you love?
If you find yourself struggling with putting your past in perspective so that you can live more fully in the present, call us.
In the Meantime...Whether today is an opportunity for religious observance, or whether you are simply celebrating the reawakening of spring, Happy Easter!
Rev. Sherry