After two years of Covid restrictions and cancelled holiday celebrations, hope is emerging for the spring season. Families are weary of the pain of being kept apart. They want to revive the long-held traditions that had been suspended, keeping them from freely expressing their cultures and beliefs. Beyond the physical toll Covid has taken on our health, this disruption has caused deep and potentially lasting damage to emotional, social, and spiritual health as well.
Our hope this season may be cautious, as reports of new variants and case surges still cast a shadow on the season. But as we have gotten vaccinated and boosted, reopened our restaurants and stores, and removed our masks, we are ready to celebrate again.
Many of Philadelphia’s local celebrations are more secular than spiritual. The online publication Philadelphia Family is just one source that has released an inventory of Easter-season events around the city. These events, ranging from April 1st to the 17th, include a lot of Easter egg hunts and encounters with the Easter bunny. Theaters are performing Easter musicals. Museums and parks are holding festivals with egg decorating and hunts and other activities, like arts and crafts, face painting, food, raffle prizes, and more family-friendly fun. Outdoorsy families can combine Easter-themed activities with trail hikes. There is even an event in South Philadelphia designed specifically for the unique needs of children with autism.
In past Easter seasons, it may have seemed that these kinds of activities were more separate from the spiritual observances within faith communities. Christian clergy and faith communities focus on a very specific hope, expressed in the belief that Christ has saved mankind by reconnecting us with the Creator through his own death and resurrection. While churches may have hosted Easter egg hunts after religious services, it was a game for children. The real significance was found in the triumph of Christ over death, and what it meant for the world.
This year, the sacred is found in the mundane. There is new and deeper meaning in the simple acts of playing games, making art and music, sharing food, and being together. The freedom to return to the full richness of communal love and joy is a precious gift – and this gift is inextricably linked to the profound act of love and transformation that Easter has always represented. During the height of the pandemic lockdown, some of the most basic functions of our humanity were suppressed. Our world is now coming back to life – just as spring bursts forth from the winter, and just as Christ emerged from the grave. Our freedom is easily taken for granted, until the status quo is disrupted. While we gladly celebrate Easter in Philadelphia, there are those around the world who are actively fighting for the freedom to live in peace. Perhaps this year, we will have an even clearer understanding of what it meant when Christ transformed our circumstances – and a deeper sense of responsibility to cherish and defend the transformation Christ established to allow the fullness of life to flourish on the earth.
