Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach

Happy Easter and Chag Pesach Sameach to everyone. May your day be filled with peace, hope and love. Wherever you are, have a smile on your face, a twinkle in your eye and a friend to share it with.

With all the trouble in various parts of the world today, this is a good time to reflect on what is important. Too often, there are people who think only of themselves and try to force their views on others, be it religious or otherwise. Instead of creating misery caused by hatred, if we can all live together and show respect for those who are different, those who have different beliefs, those who speak a different language, this world of ours would be a better place in which to live.
It is not what we say or what we think, it is what we do that defines us.

I am the Resurrection and the Life

Today's quote: God loves each of us as if there were only one of us. ~ Saint Augustine.

Easter Sunday Lunch

Easter Sunday Lunch at my place with the family - 7 children under 10, screaming, yelling little blighters, food spilt, a delightful mess, drinks tipped over and best of all, those wonderful ear splitting screeches when they don't get their own way. Is there anything more wonderful than the sound of children's voices raised in kiddie warfare? And that's only the children - you should hear the adults! You need either super-sonic hearing to make yourself heard or a loud-speaker to get you point across.

Did you know...

The commercialism of Easter, that in which children collect chocolate Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies, and fancy baskets to put them in is a tradition that stems from the old pagan religions as part of the celebration of spring. They believed eggs represented fertility and rebirth.

The story of the Easter Bunny

Ever wondered how a rabbit came to be associated with Easter? Since ancient times, rabbits have been associated with springtime, It is said the Anglo-Saxon Goddess of Spring, Eostre had a hare as her companion - the hare symbolises fertility and rebirth and much later, Christians changed the symbol of the hare to the Easter bunny. In Germany about 500 years ago, the Easter Hare acted as a judge and determined if the children had been behaving themselves or not. The tale took off from there, in 19th century Germany, eggs were made from pastry and given to good children, today the eggs are chocolate eggs.


The Spirit of Easter
Kindness is the essence of truth, when we are kind toward others it reflects our true self. The Spirit of Easter is about hope, love, and joy. Seeing things with new eyes, a rebirth of starting afresh.

I wish everyone a happy Easter and may your day be filled with love, laughter and merry memories. This is a time when we should remember those less fortunate than ourselves, someone, somewhere, some place, is cold or hungry or lonely and perhaps in some small way we can help make their day a little brighter. It can be as simple as a smile - it costs nothing yet can help make someone's day just a little brighter.

Today's quote: It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow ~ Robert H. Schuller.

Easter Sunday

May this Easter bring you happiness, joy and love, and may you find new meaning in the world around you.

Above: The Resurrection
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Christ has died,
Christ is risen,
Christ will come again.
Alleluia.

Above: Antique Easter cards

The History of the Easter Card
We send cards for different celebrations, but do you know when the first Easter card appeared? The tradition began in the 19th century. In 1898, the first Easter cards were postcards - mail requirements for postcards stated one side was for an address and the other side was for a greeting which left little space for a long message. Mail requirements eventually changed to the familiar postcard design we see today.
Rabbits, lambs, flowers and bunnies were some of the first images to appear on Easter cards. Today, these postcards are now larger and folded in half with a picture appearing on the front and a greeting on the inside with room for the sender to write a message.

Above: The Easter egg
The egg is a symbol of the start of new life, just as new life emerges from an egg when the chicken hatches out. And so we give an "Easter" egg at Easter. The Easter eggs of old which were hard-boiled eggs painted with coloured paints and decorated have now been replaced with chocolate eggs.










Today's quote: The resurrection gives my life meaning and direction and the opportunity to start over no matter what my circumstances ~ Robert Flatt

Easter 2010

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter and may you find new meaning and joy.

He is risen Allelujah

Now let the heavens be joyful,
Let earth her song begin:
Let the round world keep triumph,
And all that is therein;
Invisible and visible,
Their notes let all things blend,
For Christ the Lord is risen
Our joy that hath no end.
Saint John of Damascus

Hot Crossed Buns
Many people around the world eat hot crossed buns on Good Friday. The buns represent the Last Supper which Jesus shared with His Apostles on Maundy Thursday.

Hot crossed buns,
Hot crossed buns,
One a penny,
Two a penny,
Hot crossed buns.
If you have no daughters
Give them to your sons,
One a penny
Two a penny
Hot crossed buns.

Easter eggs
Why do we give egg(s) at Easter? In pre-Christian times the egg was a symbol of life, rebirth and renewal. In Europe there was a goddess called Eostre and from this word comes Ostara and Easter. She was the goddess of fertility hence the connection with eggs and rabbits. After the birth, death and resurrection of Christ, the early Christians adopted some of the pagan symbols and rituals and used them as Christian symbols.



Today's Quote: All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt - Lucy Van Pelt in Peanuts (by Charles M. Schulz)