The Easter Craze

The crazy cars trying to find a place to park in the fanatically filled church parking lot. The saintly sinners stating their commitment to Christ on this chaotic Sunday. This scene is unquestionably unique compared to the previous Sunday services, but it is simply another Sunday. Oh wait… it is also the holiest holiday celebrated by Christians.

I was doing what any normal teenage girl was doing, checking Twitter on the eve of Easter, when I came across a tweet that I was startled by. A girl I barely know tweeted something along the lines of “I hate how all of a sudden everyone is becoming super religious”. At first glance I was offended. I thought, “What is wrong with people proclaiming their faith and devotion to God?” But then I began to think about what the possible sources for her disapproval were, and then I realized her complaint wasn’t so offensive.

Easter Sunday. The day meant to celebrate Christ’s ultimate sacrifice. It reminds us of his love and devotion to his people, and it is truly something to celebrate. He saved us from our sins and opened up the kingdom of heaven to the people. Isn’t that quite extraordinary? So what could possibly be the flaw in celebrating such a momentous occurrence? Is there a flaw? 

I do not know this particular girl well enough to come up with a definite answer to her thinking, but my general conjecture is that she thinks that the religious beliefs that are being proclaimed are artificial. Their admiration of Christ is just a side effect of the sense of obligation that accompanies Easter. Many people who have lived out the majority of the year distracted from Jesus may feel required to take some time from their lives to worship Christ. And what better way to do than on the holiest holiday on the Christian calendar?  Guilt is also a factor in the sudden religious revival: “I have to go to church on Easter or I will be a bad Christian”, “If I don’t go to church on Easter Sunday I am going to Hell”, “If Jesus suffered through his crucifixion then I at least can go to the service that is specifically meant to commemorate his brave actions.”  And what does this combination of obligation and guilt cause? A chaotically crowed sanctuary during the Easter Sunday service.

I am positive anyone who has ever went to church on Easter has experienced the great crowd of people that accompanies the service. The sense of obligation, guilt, and faith simulates the great wave of churchgoers, but is the cause really that important? In any situation the cause isn’t quite as significant as the effect.

                There definitely is an abrupt religious sensation that is instigated by the obligations of Easter, but that doesn’t mean it is artificial. The holiday of Easter is truly holy and is meant to be a time of admiration, celebration, and thanksgiving of the Christian people. It is challenging for many to lead their difficult lives and find time and energy to worship and follow Christ. But that is why Easter is so important. It serves as a motivation for people to find the time and energy to worship Christ who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

                We go to the crowded Easter service and then what? What happens after? Do we continue to worship God throughout our entire lives or do we allow ourselves to become distant from him? How does going to church on that single simple Sunday affect us?

                We feel this obligation to go to church on Easter but once we have done that it is like checking everything off your grocery list. We are finished with everything we were required to do. There is nothing more to worry about until next year.

                But we aren’t finished. We are not done. Our lives are not fulfilled by attending a specific Sunday service. We, as Christians, are not defined by how many services we attend, but how we continue our lives in the image of Jesus Christ. As I have said before, Easter motivates us to advance our faith, but we can’t let that motivation run out. We need to maintain it. We need to cherish it. Most importantly, we need to act on it.

                I think I now understand why the girl on Twitter was upset about the spark of expression of Christianity. Regardless of her own religious position I think the future rather than the present was the source of her contempt. After Easter are we really going to continue with our enthusiasm for Christianity? Some may assume yes, and some may assume no, but regardless of others’ opinion it is up to us as individual followers of Christ to define the worth of Easter. Is it just another holiday that we feel guilty if we do not fully celebrate? Or will it be a source of inspiration to build a strong foundation for our faith in God? 

The Harm of Stones

AHH my first blog post. This is a little intimidating, but I will do my best. I feel as though the first is incredibly important so I have decided that I shall (so vintage) write about a passage that is incredibly important to me: “The Women Caught in Adultery” John 8: 1-11. For those who have a Bible at home I suggest first reading the passage, and if you don’t, no worries! I will be happy to give you a rundown of it.

Jesus is in a temple when some Pharisees bring him a women who committed adultery and ask what Jesus’s opinion on stoning her was. They claim that it is by Moses law that the punishment must be done. Jesus’s response teaches an incredibly valuable lesson. “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her,” John 8: 7.

Jesus teaches a fundamental lesson through this statement. Humans are not perfect. We have sinned before and will most likely continue to sin. We have all distanced ourselves from God in some way. So who are we as fellow sinners to say someone else’s sins are worth condemning? We are different people who sometimes sin differently and sometimes sin similarly, but our faults are more similar than most perceive.

How can this teaching from scripture be practiced in everyday life?  A reason why I love this passage so much is because it’s relatable. I am sure we have all encountered situations that we regret and the last thing we want people to do is to look down upon us for them. Virtually any individual can sympathize with this lesson. Not only are we victim to unfair judgment, we also commit the very same unfair judgment we resent. Human concentration on other people’s sins and mistakes is illustrated in this passage. Is this prevalent in modern society? Absolutely! Media for ages has glorified the idea of human error being a type of performance meant to be watched and judged by your everyday sinners. We as fellow wrongdoers sit at home feeding off the publicized wrongs people have committed, and afterword’s feel better about our own self’s. “Wow...that Bieber kid is a mess. I am glad I am not like him!” However, media isn’t the only guilty case of rampant judgment. There are scenarios we encounter every day that precipitate unfair judgment. The constant texter. The unsocial butterfly. The slut. The manwhore. The mean girl. The fake girl. The ones who smoke weed. The ones who don’t smoke weed. The church goers. The atheists. The nerds. The partiers. (Perspective is an interesting subject) Judgment accompanies us in everyday life. It follows us and we lead it. Is it inescapable?

I didn't just pick this passage as my first post because it is important to me (there are so many passages I value). I picked it because it embodies a significant belief I have as a blogger - withholding condemnation from my blog posts. Perfection isn't a quality of mine, but susceptibility to mistake and sin is. I fit in the same guidelines as the Pharisees.  Even though I will address the wrongs people have committed, I will try to withhold judgment. Am I going to be successful with my goal one hundred percent of the time? Sadly no. But I’m human… along with seven billion others. We are all going have fault in our actions, but instead of trying to fix others and express disapproval we should concentrate on fixing the flaws of our own character first.

The constant and endless fixation with neighborly error distracts us from a substantial problem we individually have the ability to fix… our own error.  When we are persistently focused on others mistakes we indirectly begin to believe that our own sins are virtually inconsequential. They don’t produce any negative effects. Does this mean that we are horrible living creatures? Absolutely not. This is just an example of a mistake that all humans are prone to, but that doesn't we can’t correct it.

I think if we look past others blemishes and focus on bettering ourselves, it will encourage a better world. Harmonious values of forgiveness and love should be cherished instead of dangerous ones such as hate and scorn. I know we have the ability to conduct ourselves in a more affectionate way. Self-improvement just takes a little bravery, faith, and endurance.

Peace will be inevitable once we all begin to focus on how we can improve ourselves and the way we treat others. How can I look past the unjust judgment I hold on this person to improve our relationship? How can I treat others with more compassion? How can I be more selfless? How can I be kinder? How can I be kinder? I know that it is in human capability and it might not become a universal ideal, but is it wrong to have the hope that we can create a world of peace, love, and joy? Isn’t that something worth striving for?