He is risen!

What a wonderful thing that is. Christ the Lord is risen. He is not dead, he is alive! Hallelujah.

I had that ingrained in me from the time I was a baby. You must tell your children that Christ the Lord is Risen. He is not dead. We have a living God.

I recall Easter as a three-day "event". On Good Friday there was a three-hour service at the church from noon to 3 p.m. Daddy would go through the seven last words of Christ (it is seven, isn't it?) and explain what each meant and go into how much our Lord suffered for us, and how he gave hope to the thief, and then the ultimate sacrifice when he said, "It is finished." In the evening on Good Friday, there was a communion service. That's all. No preaching, just a time to fellowship with the Lord's supper. Of course, daddy explained about our Lord's last supper with his disciples, and gave a vivid picture of what that supper was like. Then we all shared communion in our small church, and thought about our Lord and what he did for us.

On Sunday, we rejoiced -- He Lives! Christ the Lord is risen today! Hallelujah.

As children we didn't celebrate the Easter bunny. We didn't go on egg hunts. I do recall, though, coloring hard boiled eggs on the night before Easter each year. Mom taught us how to use a white crayon and draw on the egg before dipping it in the dye, thus enabling us to "paint" pictures in reverse on the eggs. There was no symbolism taught us about the eggs, it was just a fun thing to do at Easter. The family got one coconut filled decorated egg, and that egg what parceled out in little bits and pieces over the next week. And when I say bits and pieces, I mean bits and pieces, TINY pieces. Such a taste. But, oh, how we looked forward to the taste each day until the egg was entirely eaten.

On Easter Sunday we got new clothes (our semi-annual change of Sunday clothes came at this time). And, I got to wear a hat. I loved hats. I still love hats. And gloves. And carry a purse. That had nothing to do with the speciality of Easter, that being the day of our Lord's resurrection from the dead. But maybe it did, when you think about it. His sacrifice -- if we'll accept what He did -- gave us new life. My mom and dad gave us new clothes.

Well, when I read what I just wrote, the similarity isn't there. I just thought you might want to know how we celebrated Easter when I was a child.

Oh yes, one more thing. All schools were closed on Good Friday, and most businesses were closed from Noon to 3 p.m. Nothing was open on Easter Sunday, not even the gas stations. How times have changed.