The whole Easter weekend, I just chilled with my family ( sister and niece). It was a pretty big weekend because it was Easter and all. I get nervous when people get so hype about a religious holiday because during the regular year they just hang loose. So this weekend I just chilled very hard and just observed my state of being.
I really thought about a lot. To be very honest, I had to learn about Easter myself---its history, its orgin, why we have kids do Easter egg hunts, what's up with the bunny rabbit and all. I mean I am a Christian, and I have celebrated Easter since I was a small girl---but I NEVER really understood Easter. I did not understand the purpose of Good Friday ( when Jesus died) and then on Sunday when he was resurrected. I did not know that Easter at one time was not Easter but a pagan celebration of renewal and rebirth, and honored pagan Goddess Eastre.
I had no clue that the Easter Bunnies and eggs we see represented fertility. Because the Goddess of Spring and Fertility was in fact Eastre. Eastre's sacred animal was the hare - not surprising since the rabbit is one of the most common symbols of fertility and rebirth.
I started to think--here I was a little girl and the meaning was never fully explained to me---but I blindly followed suit of the holiday. I mean I went along with the meaning and all, yet If I had of known. I would have just rejoiced and just deeply understood my rights, my faith, my belief. I had been believing in something so powerful and great, but I did not really understand how great it was.
I did not. I do not lie here. I learned a valuable lesson this Easter. I need to always investigate my beliefs. Many times I have blindly taken on the beliefs of my family, and it may not be the best. Also, many people will not research a subject matter as well as I do and just know the facts. Its so important to do your own research.
But this post is not about that. This post is about the reason for Easter in all of our lives. The timing of this holiday and all comes at a time when I was considering becoming a Buddhist.Because, as an adult I had did my research about Buddhism, and it made sense. That's still an option for me ( I relate to some of its principles and all), but for today I am a Christian.
For me Easter represents a new time of the year for renewal in many ways:
1. Renewal from our bad habits
2. A new season---new weather
3. Bright colors are now worn
4. We can see clearly the skies and moon
5. We can see the abundance of nature ( birds chirping, plants that were dead are coming back to life, weddings taking place in spring)
Its a time for dusting our old dreams off and reviving them.
I will end this post with telling you a good story about how when you pray ---expect God to just get creative with your blessings. Well I did not go to church yesterday. As I explained above---I was literally researching Easter and its meaning. I was ignorant and did not fully understand the Holiday I had been following all these years.
That being said, I took great strides to plan with my sister to watch Kimora Lee Simmons, " Life in the Fab Lane". I love Kimora and her persona ( at times) and her love for her family and business. I like her balance with all--- long story short I get over to my sister's house, and it turns out that she does not get the Style channel that the show comes on. So I was like okay---let me go. But my sis and I chatted and all..and we watched a little bit of this BET show Sunday's best. This episode was out of Lagos, Nigeria. My sister and I really enjoyed the show and I stood up about to go when it was over.
At that time Joel Osteen immediately came on and I immediately sat down in my chair. I thought to myself, well I did not go to church, so I guess I can listen to the sermon that Joel would go over. Well, I will not go through the whole sermon with you all...
But it pretty much explained Easter. He said God is a finisher. God does not abort dreams. We do. He went through the many ways that standing firm in God's timing is the way to go on with our lives. We must take a stand and know God has not and will not forget us. We must understand that God does not give up on us, we typically do that ourselves. He explained how God may have planted a desire in our hearts, and we look in the natural and we dont see our blessings. We dont see progress ( this is ME). Time has gone by and we dont see anything ( ME again). But the thing is God is bringing it all together and we must know that. Just like when he died on that Friday---it was supposed to be his end. But he came back on Sunday. He finished what he started. He did not forget.
Joel said in many of our lives we may be living in the "Fridays" as in Good Fridays. Periods in our lives were everything is dead. Dead dreams, dead faith, slow goals, etc. He said just like when Jesus came back on Sunday---he will come back and complete the work he has done in your life. We must deeply know this.
I told this story, because God knew I was going over my sisters house to watch the Kimora show. He knew that the show would get me firmly planted in a front row seat at her house. But he knew that he had to get me to see that word on TV. His words for me on Easter ---Sunday.
I woke up this am with the words in my head, " He is a finisher".
With that---just know God does not abort dreams. I believe that we all should have never ending or evolving dreams. Start new today.
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