Monday, April 06, 2009

Bunny Week


Bunnies Gone Wild
Originally uploaded by Bakerella
So it's HOLY WEEK...the culmination of Lent, and the holiest week of the Christian year when we remember the Last Supper, the trial, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus and we await the coming HOPE of Easter with prayer, fasting and penitence.

And my four-year-old daughter Nora came home from preschool today with a calendar of her week's activities announcing this week's theme: BUNNY WEEK.

Perfect.

Now, let me just say, it's a wonderful preschool. I adore Nora's teachers and she is thriving there. And it's not a religious school. Not at all, in fact. I learned this the hard way back in December when they invited parents to come in and share about family holiday traditions and Nora wanted to bring in her nativity scene, which was fine, I was told, so long as we didn't mention Jesus. You have got to be kidding me...

So I am not expecting them to get into the religious significance of the Easter season. But it does concern me a bit that the most important Christian holiday (more important, even, than Christmas), is (hard) boiled down to eggs and bunnies. If that's not evidence that we live in a post-Christian, neo-pagan culture, I don't know what is.

It's just also a good reminder to me, as a person who seeks to follow Christ, and also to raise my children in this faith, that it's so important to really enter into the story of this whole week. I can't just go from Hosanna! to Hallelujah!, omit all that comes between, and really expect that the resurrection will have any impact on my life or faith.

So may Jesus keep me, and you, near the cross this Holy Week.

PS. I did feel a little better knowing that the kick off to "Bunny Week" was reading The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown, which, if you haven't read it lately, you should, because it's a sweet story and one of the best metaphors for God's persistent love there is!

3 comments:

revvicky said...

Rachel - I love your writing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts - you are so right....and I find it interesting coming from someone who is as liberal as I am.....that's what our world/country has come to....it's time for another reformation. in spite of all that, have a blessed Holy week and Easter. peace, vicky starnes

Rev Faith Lewis said...

Guess not much has really changed from that Festival Week in Jerusalem when everyone scrambled to reach the Temple to purchase sacrificial animals and trade their money.

The world is still distracted.

I have no wisdom to share, after all, I give into it and eat lots of Cadbury Cream Eggs...

However, that could be a time for me to ponder God's grace while they melt in my mouth, i suppose.

revrachel said...

This is a great comment from Wes, my seminary buddy:
I'm torn about my response to a "post-Christian" world. On one hand, I don't like the removal of any and all references to Jesus or God. And I don't like the growing demonization of all things Christian or religious, especially among my progressive fellow-travellers. On the other hand, I believe deeply that Constantine's conversion is the worst thing that happened to the Christian faith (the Crusades and the Inquisition being just the two worst consequences of Constantine's vision). I read recently that the percentage of people claiming to be Christian in the US has decreased over the past 10 years - good. I'm more interested in authentic, organic faith than in culturally-conditioned, spectator faith. And I'm not particularly interested in our popular culture's trend of turning Jesus into a mascot for any general, ambiguous, "purpose driven", "your best life now", quasi-ethical, results-driven, shallow bullshit.