Sunday, April 08, 2007

A Heartwarming Easter Story

I was raised in a very conservative Christian church. Whatever it lacked in compassion it made up for in Bible education. The rest of you who grew up in the CoC know what I mean, if you went to Sunday School there or in the "Babtist" church, you knew your Bible. So now I'm the Mommy, and I want my children to have a more...liberal and loving exposure to religion. I find a CoC in my town that lets WOMEN participate in prayer leading, and serving communion. I also put them in day care run by CoC and Lutherans, and we sometimes visit the Catholics. Later on, I let them choose which churches they want to visit. So I figure I'm doing a good job exposing them to different views and approaches to worship.
One Easter season, the Tall Son and I are walking through Dillards. It's all decorated with flowers and bunnies. He is 9 or 10 and at home we had been talking about the ancient Celtic religions: the Pagans, the Druids, St. Patrick; we'd been to Irish Fest in Dallas the month before so he is somewhat confused about the mixture of the Easter Bunny and the Christian version of Easter. So he asks, "What's up with all this Spring stuff if Easter is about Jesus?" I try to explain that back in the ancient times the Pagans had celebrated Spring as the rebirth of life after Winter's cold and ice. That the grass and flowers were coming out, the animals were giving birth to their young, everything was beginning a new life cycle. I didn't even want to get into Passover as he hadn't been exposed to Judaism. So then I explain that when the Christians came along and were trying to convert the Pagans, they tied Jesus' resurrection into the whole Spring rebirth cycle. I made sure he knew about the Crucifixion, dying coming back to life after 3 days. He affirmed that he remembered that by saying, "So, Jesus is like a zombie? " I stopped, I took a deep breath and I still couldn't control my laughter. I just stood there in the middle of Dillards and laughed my a$$ off for a few minutes. When I finally regained control of myself, I said, "Yes, Son, Jesus is kinda like a Zombie. But please don't ever put it that way around Grandma and Grandpa, OK?" You see, I wanted Mom and Daddy to continue living a few more years and I just knew if they heard my Son compare their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to a Zombie they would have simultaneous heart attacks and die on the spot. That's just the kind of folks they are.
However, I couldn't wait to share this gem of a story with some of my friends. My more irreverent friends. I still get tears in my eyes thinking of that day. And Son will be 25 a week from tomorrow. I hope y'all enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed telling it.

6 comments:

Ambulance Driver said...

ROFL...out of the mouths of babes.

And thanks to YOU, now I'll never be able to envision the Resurrection without a sinister voice in the back of my head whispering "braaaaiiins!"

Oh man, I am SO going to Hell.

phlegmfatale said...

That is side-splitting, Hols! That was kind of you to spare the elderly the shock of hearing this analogy.

Anonymous said...

So funny that I'm cleaning up the mess from my spewed coffee.

Lovi said...

I LOVE IT! Kids are great! I just love the wayt their brains work!!! Thanks for sharing!

Walrilla said...

OK, where do I apply for compensation for my ruined keyboard? It's dripping coffee, thanks a lot! B-)>

g bro said...

Is this like the little kid saying his favorite hymn is, "Gladly, the Cross-Eyed Bear"?