Tag Archive for bunny

Easter and Chocolate Bunnies

So, your non-Christian friends, in front of your children, are teasing you about how the chocolate bunnies, chicks, and eggs in your kids’ Easter baskets can’t have anything to do with Christ.  It’s time to explain the symbolism to them. 

In ancient times the rabbit (bunny) symbolized abundant new life, as do baby chicks.  And the egg, an ancient symbol of Spring, opens, releasing the chick, reminding us of Christ’s coming forth from the tomb.  Other indicators of new life are the flowers and baby animals often pictured in Easter settings.  Point out the beauty of God’s creation in the form of these Easter symbols, in the birds in the sky, in a newborn in your friends’ family, in the love given by grandparents, and in your garden, which, like Jesus, died but will be brimming with new life in Spring.  Focus the kids’ attention on the gift the Father gave us and that Jesus came to save for all eternity, the gift that must be honored and cherished in all its forms—life.

Guilt-Free Chocolate

What is the first secular thing that comes to mind with the word “Easter”?  Chocolate, of  course.  Chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies…gobs of chocolate that make our minds twitch with guilty pleasure.

How about guilt-free chocolate?  The pounds may stay, but not regrets about how that yummy stuff got to us.  The same with coffee, tea, rice, sugar, juice, honey, wine, flowers, crafts–all sorts of things that often reach our homes through the mistreatment of people in other countries.  Many, often young children, work under harsh conditions to support their families.  But it’s the only work available.  The FAIR-TRADE MOVEMENT aims to change this, to provide employment, fair wages, decent conditions, and money that goes back into their communities for health and education.  This is not “free trade,” which is political, among nations, but “fair trade,” valuing the well-being of people.

Participate by buying products on-line (Google “Fair Trade”) or at Safeway, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Cost Plus, Peet’s, Starbucks, and elsewhere.  Watch for the “Fair Trade” symbol on packages.  Ask the manager.  Make your interest known.  Then, maybe just one more nibble wouldn’t hurt….

Bunnies, Chicks, Hats, & Colored Eggs as Easter Symbols

We all know that the lamb represents the Lamb of God (Jesus), the cross His victory over death, and candles His being the Light of the World.  From there we tend to scratch our heads over items that seem to be purely commercial.  Actually, they are all rooted in Easter symbolism and tradition.

For example, in ancient times the rabbit (bunny) symbolized abundant new life, as do baby chicks.  And the egg, an ancient symbol of spring, opens, thus releasing the chick, reminding us of Christ’s coming forth from the tomb.  Other indicators of new life are the flowers and baby animals often pictured in Easter settings.  Even the custom of wearing Easter hats and new clothes has a traditional basis—putting off the old life and donning the new life Jesus offers through His death and resurrection, much like the baptismal garment.

Then there are those seemingly oddball foods.  Next time you eat a hot cross bun, think of the cross on top, and when eating a pretzel (an Easter food in some areas), consider the shape, which is like arms crossed in prayer.

The symbol closest to my own heart, though, is the butterfly, whose whole life represents the life Jesus.  It begins as a caterpillar (Christ’s life on Earth), becomes a cocoon (His crucifixion and burial), then bursts out as a beautiful butterfly (just as Christ rose from death into glory).

The ancients had it right.  On Easter, one would greet another with, “He is risen!”  The other would look in awe at the world around him and answer, “He is risen, indeed!”

Have a blessed Easter season.

 

 

For Busy Chocolate-Lovers

Happy news for us chocoholics! A study in England showed that employees who were given chocolate or shown videos of stand-up comics were actually 12% more productive.  OK, all you parents anticipating biting off chocolate bunny ears in a few weeks–your excuse is that you have a whole bunch of stuff to get done.