An Easter to dye for

I suppose I don't need to reiterate that I am not at all religious. I don't go to church. I don't pray. I don't believe in god. I've read portions of the bible and I know many of the stories, but I take no stock in them.

Yet I partake in the secular rituals that are based on religion like Easter.

Easter is a Christian holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ after he was crucified by the Romans. As a kid I enjoyed the ritual of dyeing eggs and putting out an Easter basket to get it filled with candy. And now that I have children of my own, I've continued the ritual.

But still, it seems like an odd holiday if I stop to think about it. Dyeing eggs seems to have little to do with the resurrection (although eggs are a symbol of rebirth). And I suppose the Easter bunny is another nod to pagan rituals of Sprint and fertility. Not sure where candy fits into the symbolism though. I imagine it was a marketing idea to make money off from the holiday.

Same with Easter brunch.


I've never understood what determines what day Easter will fall. Some years it is in March. Then it is in April. A quick Google search found this explanation:

In 325 CE, the Council of Nicaea established that Easter would be held on the first Sunday after the first Full Moon occurring on or after the vernal equinox.

So there you have it. Last year it fell on April 1 which added a nice twist to the holiday. We sent the kids out in the backyard for an Easter egg hunt, but we didn't hide any eggs. That was fun to watch.

Basically, Easter, like Valentines Day and St. Patrick's Day, is one of those auto-pilot holidays for me. I go through the motions without thinking about it too much. Because although it has absolutely no religious significance for me, the ritual is comfortable. It helps reinforce being a family and hopefully will give my children something to remember and pass on.