What's a goofy rabbit, gaily colored eggs, and candy got to do with Easter anyway? Some ultra-fundamentalist churches preach against celebrating Easter with seemingly unrelated myths and traditions. As this holy day approaches, should we continue coloring eggs and buying chocolate bunnies? What would our "church fathers" from long ago say about this?

To find some answers, I fired up my computer, connected to the World-Wide-Web and did a search on "Easter Bunny". One of the first sites I found was hosted by The Lutheran Hour, a ministry of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod. Their site has lots of helpful information about holiday traditions, and is written so children and adults can understand it. They have a LONG explanation about Easter traditions, which I thought I'd summarize below. I hope you find it interesting and helpful.

The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the Spring season. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies appeared in Germany during the early 1800s, made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from "Christ-Kindel" on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs. The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn, or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread through out the country.

The egg is nature's perfect package. It has, during the span of history, represented mystery, magic, medicine, food and omen. It is the universal symbol of Easter celebrations throughout the world and has been dyed, painted, adorned, and embellished in the celebration of its special symbolism.

Before the egg became closely entwined with the Christian Easter, it was honored during many rite-of- Spring festivals. The Romans, Gauls, Chinese, Egyptians, and Persians all cherished the egg as a symbol of the universe. From ancient times eggs were dyed, exchanged, and shown reverence. In Pagan times, the egg represented the rebirth of the earth. The long, hard winter was over; the earth burst forth and was reborn just as the egg miraculously burst forth with life. The egg, therefore, was believed to have special powers. It was buried under the foundations of buildings to ward off evil.

With the advent of Christianity the symbolism of the egg changed to represent, not nature's rebirth, but the rebirth of man. Christians embraced the egg symbol and likened it to the tomb from which Christ rose. Old Polish legends blended folklore and Christian beliefs and firmly attached the egg to the Easter celebration. One legend concerns the Virgin Mary. It tells of the time Mary gave eggs to the soldiers at the cross. She entreated them to be less cruel and she wept. The tears of Mary fell upon the eggs, spotting them with dots of brilliant color. Another Polish legend tells of when Mary Magdalene went to the sepulchre to anoint the body of Jesus. She had with her a basket of eggs to serve as a repast. When she arrived at the sepulchre and uncovered the eggs, lo, the pure white shells had miraculously taken on a rainbow of colors.

Decorating and coloring eggs for Easter was the custom in England during the middle ages. The household accounts of Edward I, for the year 1290, recorded an expenditure of eighteen pence for four hundred and fifty eggs to be gold-leafed and colored for Easter gifts. The most famous decorated Easter eggs were those made by the well-known goldsmith, Peter Carl Faberge. In 1883, the Russian Czar, Alexander, commissioned Faberge to make a special Easter gift for his wife, the Empress Marie. The first Faberge egg was an egg within an egg. It had an outside shell of platinum and enameled white, which opened to reveal a smaller gold egg. The smaller egg, in turn, opened to display a golden chicken and a jeweled replica of the Imperial crown.

In Germany, hard-boiled eggs were given to children along with other Easter gifts. Raw eggs used for cooking where not broken, but the contents were removed by piercing the end of each egg with a needle and blowing the contents into a bowl. The hollow eggs were died and hung from shrubs and trees during the Easter Week. The Armenians would decorate hollow eggs with pictures of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and other religious designs.

Eggs play an important part in Easter sports. The Romans celebrated the Easter season by running races on an oval track and giving eggs as prizes. Two traditional Easter egg games are the Easter Egg Hunt and the Easter Egg Roll. On Easter morning, the children of the house join in a search to locate the eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden while they where asleep. The rules of an Easter Egg Roll are to see who can roll an egg the greatest distance or can make the egg roll without breaking it, usually down a grassy hillside or slope. Maybe the most famous egg rolling takes place on the White House Lawn. Hundreds of children come with baskets filled with brightly decorated eggs and roll them down the famous lawn, hoping the President of the United States is watching the fun.

Although the omens and the mystery of the egg have disappeared today, the symbolism remains, and artists continue the old world tradition of adorning eggs.

If you want to learn more about Easter traditions, visit the Lutheran Hour web site at this address:

The Bible tells us that Christ was arrested and crucified during the celebration of the Jewish Passover festival. Remember, the "Last Supper" was Christ celebrating the Passover Feast with his disciples. Passover lasts from the 14th to 21st days of the month of Nisan on the Jewish calendar. (the Jews use a calendar based on the movement of the MOON instead the 365-day solar calendar we use). Their month of Nisan falls within our months of March and April. Christians disagreed for many years on when Easter actually occurred. In 325 AD, the Council of Nice issued a decree, and by the 7th century almost all Christian churches agreed that Easter would fall on the 1st Sunday after the vernal equinox (March 21st, the 1st day of Spring). If that full moon falls on a Sunday, Easter will be the following Sunday. That means Easter can occur as EARLY as March 22 and as LATE as April 25th. The date of Easter also determines when Ash Wednesday (40 days before Easter, not including Sundays) and Pentecost (50 days after Easter) occur. Eastern Orthodox churches follow a different calendar, so their Easter often falls on a later Sunday than ours.

Meet our Members. Joshua Hearn

This month, we feature Joshua Hearn, one of our alternate organists. Josh has been a member at St. John since 1986. He took piano lessons from age seven until fourteen when he started organ lessons. He is currently studying music at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) in Cedar Falls, Iowa. His applied instrument is organ, and he currently studies with the world-renowned artist and lecturer, Dr. Marilou Kratzenstein. He also studies and plays percussion in the Symphonic Band and Percussion Ensemble.

In addition to being a full-time student, Josh works as the Director of Music at Our Savior's Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. His duties include worship planning, playing the organ for Sunday worship, directing the adult choir, directing the bell choir, and playing for the children's choir.

His busy schedule doesn't leave much time to listen to the radio, but he occasionally listens to MIX stations that play a mixture of music from the 70's, 80's, 90's, and music being produced today. He also listens to the university's public radio/classical station. He usually listens to organ literature., favoring works of César Franck, J.S. Bach and Charles-Marie Widor.

Regarding music's role in worship, Josh says, "Music plays just as an important role in Worship as the spoken word does. Music has been a part of Christian Worship for centuries. Some people have the gift of being able to praise God with spoken word, some people are able to praise God by actions, and some people have the gift of praising God with the gift of music. Music is a way of rejoicing and celebrating the gift of Jesus Christ to the world. The gift of speech is an art form to be mastered, and so is music.

Until Next Month: Remember, Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. " Matt 16:24 (NIV)

Soli Deo Gloria (To God alone be the Glory)

Donald L. Bauer, Choral & Contemporary Music Director