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Published : August 20, 2009 |
Author : Phyllis
Category : P. Fun Activities for Families | Total Views
: 448 | Rating :  
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 Phyllis
I'm the mother of Jaan (age 5), Raia (age 3) and Asya (age 1). They were all born at home in Russia. We live in Ukraine now.
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After years in countries where Easter is the center of the church year, last year I was sad to see how many Christians sort of skip over celebrating the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection is the central fact of our Christian life: "if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain," (1 Cor. 15:14). He is Risen, so let's celebrate!
I'll just share some of the ways I'm planning to observe Easter and make it a big deal in our own family this year. Starting with preparation. . . .
I have always thought of Lent as a Catholic, Orthodox, liturgical church event. This year, I want to use it as I time of preparation and reflection in our family. We won't be fasting or "giving up" anything, but I want the whole season to be more solemn. We'll be following a devotional by Noel Piper. By the Western church calendar those readings will start this Sunday (March 1); this year we're a week behind that. (There are also instructions for using the readings only during Passion Week, if you didn't have a chance to start at the beginning of Lent.)
We'll start with seven candles lit. I'll make an arrangement of them in our windowsill, probably with some thorn branches and purple ribbon. Each week there will be one less candle burning, as we approach the remembrance of the darkest day of all history. Last year I didn't focus on the darkness and sadness of the days before Easter, because our little ones are so young. This year I think they can handle it, and I hope the darkness will heighten the contrast of the light of the resurrection.
During Passion Week last year, we used another of Noel Piper's ideas and made an "Easter Mountain," where we acted out the events of that week. (You can read about this is her book Treasuring God in Our Traditions, which is available free online.) We really enjoyed that, and it gave our children a real understanding of the whole Easter story.
One more idea that I have is to turn off the lights in our home at 3:00 on Good Friday and leave them off until Sunday morning. We'll see how practical and adaptable that is with little ones who are afraid of the dark. I can see that at least eating supper in the dark those evenings could be doable and meaningful.
And then, how to CELEBRATE?
Easter morning our children wake up to joyful Easter music, the stone on their Easter mountain is rolled away, the tomb is empty, all the candles are lit again, and we declare that Christ is Risen! Church that day is a joyous event, and the whole atmosphere is one of celebration.
It goes beyond that, though. Easter continues for fifty days! Can you imagine the disciples' joy as they spent time with their risen Lord? In Russian churches, we continue to say "Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed!" up until the celebration of Pentecost. In our family, we continue to celebrate, too. Two years ago, we had a paper chain to mark the days. Each day we would tear off one link, say that Christ is risen, and sing an Easter hymn. Last year, we had a pile of fifty tiny birthday candles; we lit one each evening, and as it burned down we would sing and say that Christ is risen. That was the favorite, so we'll be doing that again this year. I save Easter crafts for the time after Easter day, too.
We enjoy the whole season as we remember that Christ was physically with His disciples for forty days after He rose again. Then we discuss His Ascension and continue on with the story as we wait for Pentecost. I love how going through the whole process of preparing for Easter, celebrating the Resurrection, and continuing on into the church year reminds and teaches us about the central idea and stories of the Gospel every year! I would also love to hear your ideas for the Easter season and how you celebrate in your family, so please comment or write to me.
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