Marchelle Abrahams asked parents how they explained the importance of the Christian holiday to their children.
The Easter Bunny, unlike Father Christmas, doesn’t seem to get much love from kids this time of the year.
No, all they want are mouthfuls of Easter eggs in every shape and size until they crumple into a heap at the end of the day suffering from tummy ache.
The true meaning of Easter sometimes gets lost in translation.
Fit for mass consumption, the Easter Bunny comes only once a year. But that’s not what Easter’s really about.
Easter, also known as Resurrection Sunday, is derived from the Greek/Latin word Pascha, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead as described in the New Testament.
Yes, it’s a religious holiday, but it also has universal appeal with its overall message being that out of death and despair comes a new beginning.
We asked a few parents how they explained the importance of the Christian holiday to their children.
Sunday school teacher Avril Hermanus thought it was important to teach her pupils that Easter Sunday was about family and coming together to celebrate the resurrection of the son of God.
But it was also a culmination of factors that led to him rising from the dead: “Jesus Christ was crucified on Good Friday and three days later rose from his tomb.
“He is alive and we rejoice in his resurrection, and that’s why Easter eggs are symbolic of new life,” Hermanus said.
Lindsay Louw, a father of two girls, aged 4 and 8, said he tried to keep it as simple as possible.
He explained to them that the world we live in was not a true reflection of what Easter, or any other religious holiday for that matter, was about.
“Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we should give Easter eggs.
“We forget what it’s really about and the same can be said about Christmas.”
Lindsay with his daugthers Lusi and Ali. Picture: Supplied
Sipokazi Fokazi is the mom of a 7-year-old and an 11-year-old. She said from a young age she instilled in them the teachings of the Bible and the importance of Easter.
She added that the holiday was as much a spiritual experience as it was a religious one.
“It’s all about your relationship with God at the end of the day,” she said.
Khumbuzile Dlamini, an acclaimed opera singer who is starring in The Messiah at the Playhouse Opera Theatre, believed that Easter was a reminder of how we lived our busy lives.
Opera singer Khumbuzile Dlamini
“We are here because someone died for us. It always reminds me of the Commandments of God and the basic principles of life,” she said.
“It’s a time to look back and thank God for giving his only son for our sins so that we could be saved.”
Khumbuzile said it was also a time to think about family.
“Some of us are unfortunate because we don’t get to be with our families.”