(That's Greek. Remember Greek?) It's holy week, or "great week" as the Greeks like to call it. I'm sitting here in Adelaide, South Australia and remembering my last two Easters in Greece. The slaughtered goats everywhere, the bells tolling for hours on end (does your head in, that), the priests in their long and severely black robes chanting (also for hours on end), lighting candles at midnight, cracking red eggs, watching the goat's head with its teeth and eyes still gleaming at you as it turns on the spit over the fire. Ah, the Greek Easter.
Fast forward ... Easter in Australia doesn't have quite the same ring to it. I am thankful to be spared the commercialism of bunnies and eggs, for the most part, but it's feeling a bit anticlimactic. An Australian ITeams coworker made the comment that the long weekend is more sacred for many Australians than is the actual reason for Easter. It's a camping weekend, or a few days to catch up with all those things around the house that need doing.
I'm startled (that says "startled," not "starting") to realize that I'm more comfortable in Greece with pagan rituals and Orthodox celebrations than in this country where there is not much happening. It's challenging my views and my perception of what is cultural and what is truly biblical as we remember Christ's death on the cross. To me, observing Aussie culture, the lack of a special Easter service at church or not having a big family dinner feels like an affront to Christianity! :) And then it nearly does my head in to realize that those are cultural things - my whole view of Easter is American.
Our church here celebrates the Lord's Supper every month with a special service. They believe we should be mindful of what Christ did on the cross every day of the year, not just one weekend. So rather than have the traditions occupy our focus, or our attention taken with making sure everything looks right for the Easter holiday, they choose not to give it special attention. It's controversial, in my mind and others' - we don't fully agree with it, for a few reasons. But it's making me think long and hard about how much of my perception of Christian holidays like Christmas and Easter are rooted in American culture. Scripture doesn't prescribe that we celebrate Easter. It does tell us to remember his death through communion, which we do regularly. In fact, Easter started as a pagan holiday, until the church decided to Christianize it and put it on the Christian calendar.
I won't lie - I've felt angry this week and even shed a few tears as I'm confronted with my cultural view of this holiday, which to me means that I feel I am totally missing out on it. It's not WRONG to celebrate Easter as we do in the States, with special services and dinners and spending time thinking about what it means. I think that's good, for the most part (though obviously the customs can usurp the meaning and value of it - like in Greece, but also in American commercialism and ritualistic traditions). But it's also not wrong to NOT have an Easter service, instead choosing to remember what Jesus did with as much weight in July or November as in April. Some might call it "bold" - not bowing to the pressure of having a special service just because everyone else does.
Like I said - it's doing my head in. I see their side yet I am still very much entrenched in my own (since, you know, I'm American). I'm bothered, and I do feel like opportunities are being missed - and that I'm missing out! :) Yet I am also thinking through what Easter truly is - and that's not American Easter, or Greek Easter, or Australian Easter. It's not about the church service (or lack thereof). Even though every American fiber in me cries out for that.... :)
5 comments:
Such an interesting tension! What you say about Australian celebrations (or lack of them) makes sense, and in one sense that seems like the proper perspective - that we should always be mindful of the work of the cross, not just for one week in the spring. And yet there is something about the celebration of the resurrection that happens in Easter services that seems like it might be diminished or lost in a culture that determines to treat Easter weekend like any other weekend. Also, while I know religious calendars vary, there is something special and powerful about joining with believers all over the world in that celebration, no matter how different the celebrations may look.
Not to mention the jelly beans.
Sitting here in the church office prepping for the "Good Friday Experience" and thinking how very appealing the Australian way sounds right about now!
Hah! Wanna know about Easter in Brinnon? Well, its down to the boyscout camp on Jackson Cove for a 7:00am sunrise service. Then to the church for a potluck breakfast, (featuring my cinnamon rolls of course?. Then a movie to kill some time before the Easter worship service, in which Kim and I will be singing not once, but twice. Not alone, mind you, but in the church choir. Although, I'm apparently the only one of the four guys in the choir that you can hear. And I'm the only bass. There are about a dozen women, but a couple of them have been asked to just lip sync. Then there's an egg hunt down at the Dosewalips State Park, but some of us big guys will have to go first and chase away the elk herd. Now that's an American Easter. Did I ever tell you about my Easter in Kazakstan with an exiled Afghan army general? That was more of a culture shock than Brinnon.
I've been discussing with others how backwards it is that Americans get a long-weekend off for Thanksgiving and it's such a big 'family' holiday, yet, we get one day (on a weekend) for Easter and don't push for more.
Seems like we should have the week of crazy family celebrations at Christmas and Easter instead of Christmas and Thanksgiving.
I've also been wrestling with a comment I made about "it not being a big deal" -- meaning that I've been away from home for so many Easters that I know how to celebrate away from family and with different families, but it came out like I was saying Easter wasn't a big deal...ah, lots to think about!
Easter was weird, y'all. The church we were at did not even MENTION the words "Easter" or "resurrection" or "cross" or anything. He preached a sermon on giving. I realize that it's more the church than the culture, as most other Christian churches held Easter services - though it's quite a bit mellower than in the States. But how disappointing to go to church on Easter and have no acknowledgment of Easter whatsoever! YES, we should be mindful of the reason for this day EVERY day of the year. But this seems a bit extreme to me in the effort to do that. Sad.
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