“Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.” ~Martin Luther

I was raised Lutheran – hence the quote above.  My wife was raised Catholic.  Neither one of us is particularly devote about Christianity or religion in general.  Still, we are raising a wonderful daughter together and needed to make some decison about her religious training.  Should it happen at all and if so how?  This is not a completely answered question yet, but we both agree that she will have some religious grounding as she grows up.

I was thinking about this last night when my daughter, 6 years old January 2, 2009, completely out of the blue, asked me what the Easter Bunny had to do with Jesus.  I didn’t know the answer and set out on an internet journey of discovery.  I had such a “hoot” during this learning adventure that I decided to share just a bit of what I learned.

Wikipedia has a great article about the origins of the Easter Bunny, it goes back much farther than I would have guessed, and you can read about it here: Wikipedia Origins of the Easter Bunny.

I ran across a competing explanation – from the animated cartoon series “Southpark.”  If you are easily offended, then leave this link alone.  Otherwise, enjoy! Southpark’s Fantastic Easter Special Original Air Date: 04.04.07  Stan starts asking his Dad some tough questions about the origins of Easter. The answers lead to an ancient and mysterious secret society created in the Middle Ages to protect the secret of the Easter Bunny. (You will have to click a couple of times to load the episode – I am still smiling!)

For me, I decided that the real meaning of Easter is life.  Easter reminds me to really live my life, to come fully alive and enjoy this wonderful gift that I have been given.  It also gives me another excuse to spoil and nurture my daughters and that is reason enough to honor Easter for me!

Till next time…Jack

“An authentic life is the most personal form of worship. Everyday life has become my prayer.” ~Sarah Ban Breathnach