why I am okay with the Easter Bunny

People are quick to point out the secular beginnings of our holiday traditions. The Easter Bunny began as a spring time celebration of fertility rites. I guess in a post-industrial culture where birth control is the norm, we've chosen to honor what we worship instead: candy and commercialism. Similarly, the Yule log began as an ancient (I think Druid. If I'm wrong, I sincerely apologize to any Druids) custom celebrating the winter solstice.

A guy I work with told me that Christians should call it "Resurrection Sunday" and skip out on the whole Easter Bunny concept. I see his point. It's hard to reconcile a fluffy bunny with Jesus on the cross. Then again, it's even harder to reconcile the notion of Jesus breath mints or frisbees or bracelets or jewelry. (Actually, I heard Jesus used to play quite a mean game of Ultimate Frisbee) I'm guessing Jesus might be more offended by the big screen mega church advertising the Republican Party than he is by candy eggs. Just a guess.

So, with all my disdain for secular commercialism, we still choose to have the Easter Bunny. First, I love the creativity. I love the act of dying the eggs and watching Joel and Micah learn see their own creative impulse tranform an ordinary egg into a work of art. Also, I love the secretive way that we can love our sons without getting credit. They can be excited, but the thank yous go to an unseen Easter Bunny.

I think it's because, at the age, there has to be something magical. As strange as it sounds, I think that faith begins there: with this belief in the unseen, with this hope that something positive will happen, with this notion that the incredible is possible. So, we have to quantify joy in a way they recognize: candy.

"What if he gets sad when he finds out it's not true? What happens then? Won't he believe God isn't real?" Perhaps. Or, more likely, it will be a rite of passage - one of those painful memories of growing up, when you realize that the world is not as great as you had hoped. It's at that point that kids have a chance to really believe in God. It's at that point that the myth of the Easter Bunny is crushed, but they can realize that there is a story more incredible than a bunny who hides Easter Eggs and this story is grounded in history and is so real that the transformation is more creative than anything that happens when you dip eggs in dye.

Here is one of my favorite comedy routines about holidays: