Easter Checklist

Easter bunny?

― Check.

Easter basket?

― Triple check.

Satisfaction of having survived the moderation and abstinence of Lent?

― …Let’s just say it’s a good thing I’m not Catholic, and my immortal soul is safe.

Easter dinner?

― Refusing to make lamb for the Easter meal (I believe it was the prospect of eating lamb that turned me into a vegetarian when I was a wee lass of ten), I was left with one other option for the traditional Easter meal: ham. Furthermore, I was desirous that I might make the meal like unto a soup, that I might make the meal beforehand, yea, insomuch that I might not be constrained to cook on Sunday. I ended up making a sort of ham chili with cornbread for dinner. (Props to Ruth for thoughtfully supplying the recipe last Christmas, and infinite thanks to Joseph’s mom for the excellent cooking skills that created the recipe in the first place!)

On a related note, I had asked Joseph a week or so ago what Easter meal traditions his family had; he answered with a noncommittal grunt that I took as an indication that he didn’t remember any. I should have known better; Sunday afternoon (that is, much too late to change the menu), after a call from his mother, he regaled me with stories of roast chicken and cute little pear-bunnies. I herein solemnly vow never again to accept a grunt as a definitive response. To think I missed an opportunity for pear bunnies! Next year, little bunskers ― next year!

Joy of observing Edward’s first Easter?

― Check.

Gratitude that Christ’s death and rebirth mean my family can be an eternal family?

― Every day of my life.

Addendum: Marianne Wardle gave a thought-provoking talk today in church, in which she adapted Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to involve Easter. I found her comparison notably interesting as it related to the “Ghost of Easter Future.” Whereas the Ghost of Christmas Future frightened Scrooge with its images of death and the grave, she observed that the Easter equivalent would be the opposite ― it would be one of rejoicing, because the celebration of Easter is the celebration of Christ’s victory over death. I love the beauty of that thought; Easter really is the celebration of how God has blessed us, every one.