Fun and Sacred

I am sometimes bothered by the traditions surrounding Christmas and Easter. These are sacred holidays (literally holy days) that should be respected, yet the observance of Christmas and Easter get tangled up with reindeer and wrapping paper and bunnies and eggs. Now, there's nothing wrong with exchanging gifts or dyeing eggs. These are perfectly acceptable activities. Yet, the days that commemorate the two must important, most sacred events in history are probably not the best two days for getting sugar highs from eating far too much cheap, holiday chocolate. There has to be a better way. There must be a way to respect the sacred nature of these holidays and still have some holiday fun. Thankfully, there is.

Years ago, my family adopted the tradition of having a special, sacred dinner each Christmas Eve, where we would eat the kinds of food Joseph and Mary might have eaten (mostly bread, cheese, and fruit), and we would think about the birth and importance of Jesus Christ. The following day, Christmas day, we could exchange gifts, eat treats, and have fun, but Christmas Eve is sacred.

Splitting the holiday up into the fun day and the sacred day works even better for Easter, since Easter is always on a Sunday and the day before is always a Saturday. Easter Saturday can be a fun day with a bunch of eggs and chocolates, and Easter Sunday can be a sacred day, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Of course, these dates aren't etched in stone. For some families, it might make more sense for Saturday, reflecting the Saturday between Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection, to be a somber, holy day, and for Sunday to be a more fun and joyous day. Or maybe Easter's fun day could be the Monday after Easter (if one's school schedule permits that), so as to keep Holy Week holy. Or the fun day could happen early in Holy Week so as to keep the last few days holy. I don't know. Do whatever works for you. My main point is to make the fun holiday and the holy holiday different days so we can keep the holy day holy and still set some time aside for fun.

Naturally, it's probably too late to apply this advice this Easter, but I hope that you still manage to make this Easter both fun and sacred. I know this Christmas will be, even if we need to schedule the fun and the worship for different days.