Happy Easter!

Coloured lights, illuminated crosses, potted plants arranged into pleasing gardens...these are a few of the ways Easter is celebrated in my town. The Sunday School kids have an Easter egg hunt, where they search for non-dyed hard-boiled eggs. The teens and adults have singing competitions, sword drills, and gunnysack races. 

My church held their annual early-morning walk on the Saturday of Easter weekend, in which the various 'small groups' (aka 'cell groups') competed against one another for which group was best-dressed and had the best turnout. In this context, wearing matching shirts is a big part of being `best-dressed.` We formed a long parade and strolled along the road, making our way to the church, where we were photographed. Then my group retired to a member`s house, where we ate a sweet lentil soup, hard-boiled eggs, and fresh buns. 

The youth from my small group, ready to march!

On Easter Monday, I travelled with the young adults group to a city several hours away to take part in another Easter parade. Young adults from all the churches of our denomination in the province gathered there, and again, each group wore matching shirts. Some of the groups sang silly songs; some sang Christian songs; and some had actors dressed up as Jesus, Roman soldiers, Pontius Pilate, and so on. 

Actors in the Easter parade.

I was talking with a few local friends about the way Easter is celebrated here, and they mentioned that for many people, Easter is considered the biggest celebration of the year. I commented that in Canada, Easter pales in comparison to Christmas. "But Christmas is just about Jesus being born," my friend pointed out, "and Easter is about when He died and rose again. That's the more important part, isn't it?" And I would have to say I agree. Christmas is important, too, because we celebrate Jesus coming to earth as a human, but the really life-changing part is that He died to take the punishment for our sins, and then He rose again, defeating death and offering forgiveness and new life to all who are willing to receive it. Hallelujah!