getting ready for Easter

Along with the start of baseball, spring is one of my favorite times of the year because of the Easter season. This is where the entire Christian population celebrates the most important event in human history: the atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ! It's kind of a big deal.

The resurrection of Jesus is truly the happiest moment in history. Christ's postmortal appearances are the most touching moments recorded in the scriptures. Death was defeated. Jesus lives. We will all be resurrected and have glorious bodies devoid of whatever ails us now. A way has been provided for our families to continue together after this earthly life. Easter is so significant that it changed the day of the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.

But that's not all there is. The resurrection is the crowning moment of the Atonement, but it isn't right to overlook the crucifixion and death of Christ. 

Too often I hear many members of the Church of Jesus-Christ of Latter-day Saints rationalize or diminish traditions of other faiths compared to our own. Just last Sunday I heard someone say something like "My friend observes Lent and when they asked why I don't I said that we like to remember Christ's resurrection, not his death." That makes me cringe. 

One thing as Latter-day Saints that we do pretty well, probably better than most faiths, is live consistently through the whole year so Easter Sunday is pretty similar to the next Sunday and a random Sunday in September. Church activity and attendance is steady week to week. There is no splurge for Christmas and Easter. But how do you remember and celebrate this time of the resurrection? It better be more than hiding candy-filled eggs. 

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121). What I deduce from that is that the death of Christ is also incredibly significant. Paul wrote that "we preach Christ crucified" (1 Corinthians 1:23). He died for me! He didn't have to, He is God, immortal. But He did anyway to help us overcome death. "And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people... that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma 7:12). He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5). 

I don't know a lot about other religions, and most people are the same way. What I do know is that it seems clear that many other Christian faiths do a whole lot more to celebrate this special season than we Mormons do, as a whole. Honestly, there are few (if any) organized church-wide (even at the local congregational level) traditions or events that we observe for Easter. Other than General Conference the first weekend in April and maybe one special musical number during sacrament meeting, what do we do? 

So courtesy of wikipedia, I looked up a little on Lent. My Catholic/Lutheran/Methodist friends would probably agree with this statement: the traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer for the glorious Easter holiday through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, atonement, and self-denial/fasting. It is a very personal thing, and one decides what they are willing to give up as a gift to the Savior, and reminder of Him. It lasts about six weeks. It begins on Ash Wednesday, where traditionally palm branches from the previous year's Palm Sunday are burned and the ashes are "painted" on people's forehead. The Easter week is a beast of its own, with extra worship services on Good Friday and Saturday too. 

What a cool tradition. One of my sister's friends said she was giving up chocolate for Lent (and I assume that is a fairly common choice). I love chocolate, and I know that a six-week chocolate fast would make me uncomfortable. Yet every time she craved chocolate she would remember Jesus and her commitment to honor Him. We are commanded to "always remember Him," and the more reminders we get I say I'm all for. Someone who sees ash on their forehead when they look in the mirror, or if I see someone else with ash on their head, that is a pretty good trigger for thinking about Jesus. 

Jesus declared, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends" (John 15:13-14). He had power to avoid it, yet Jesus voluntarily laid down his life for us, for you, for me. We owe him everything! His suffering and dying on the cross is certainly uncomfortable to think about, but the love it showed and meaning it carries make it something we should never forget and always keep in our mind. We take the sacrament/communion every week "that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son... and do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them" (Moroni 4:3, 5:2). Especially during the season when his death took place we should give a little more attention to it.

 So anyway, my point is not that we should all observe Lent or wear crosses. My encouragement is that we can each individually do a little more to remember and celebrate Jesus during this holy season. And rather than dismiss what other people do in their own observance (of whatever holiday) we should admire their devotion, learn from it and about it. 

 I know Jesus suffered in the Garden, paying the penalty for my sins. He gave his life and willingly allowed himself to be put through an excruciatingly painful and humiliating execution, for which I am eternally indebted to him and grateful for. I know Jesus was resurrected, breaking the chains of death and bringing hope and rejoicing to people of all ends of time. I love this Easter season when we commemorate these important events and realities, and I plan on making them a little more meaningful this year.