Last Sunday was Easter and I am taking a religious viewpoint towards the holiday because I am hoping for some clarificiation upon this holiday we call Easter.
For Christians, it is where thousands of Christians celebrate the fact that their Savior is alive again and that they can start a new life, one that is filled with hope and a renewed sense of faith.
Yet, when Mary Magdalene went to Jesus' grave, she noticed that it was empty and she asked who she thought was the gardener where Jesus was. Then Jesus told her, "Mary." She responded with "Rabboni," (meaning Teacher) and he told her ,"Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ' I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.' " Then Mary went to the disciples and told them, "I've seen the Lord and she told them what he had said to her.
Yet, how can a gracious leader such as Jesus tell Mary, one of his believers not to hold on to him? Or maybe he isn't trying to tell Mary that she should stop believing in him, but to spread the good news that he has returned and to not hold on to the past. Mary thought once Jesus returned, everything would go back to being normal and that Jesus would continue to help people in the same way that he did before he was crucified.
Instead, she realized that things weren't going to be the same when she was the first person to see Jesus after he had been resurrected and afterwards, she had learned to let go of the past and to celebrate the present by telling her fellow disciples that Jesus had returned.
Is this biblical holiday spreading a message about letting go of the past and sending a message to Christians that they should always live in the present and not to dwell on the good ole days? Telling us that you'll become a person that continues to say, oh I'll just do it tomorrow then tomorrow comes and you've still haven't done it and today turns into yesterday... Or is just another Christian holiday in which we choose to celebrate Jesus' existence and it renews our special covenant that we choose to be in with God?
Easter was actually a PAGAN holiday to begin with. Before Christianity was ever developed. It was a celebration of the first crops and the end of winter. It's all about rebirth and fertility. In Ireland, they would have festivals celebrating the coming of spring. As soon as the winter's snow would stop, they would plant their crops, and three days later, their crops would sprout.
The Christians in a sense sort of stole this holiday and claimed it as their own. Because the holiday was already parallel to things dying in winter and being reborn in spring, they used this holiday as the same sort of message, only instead of being purely about nature and earth, it was more spiritual...
I'm not sure if I'm making much sense because I'm really tired right now, but if you go to my page, my very first blog at the bottom is about the research I did on Easter. Maybe that will be of some clarity for you.
“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart ... Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” -Carl Jung