By Staff
I hope that your Easter Sunday is going well. All of the new clothes have been pressed, the Easter Bunny has made his rounds and the ham is baking in the oven at my house as you read this column.
As I pondered what to share with you in this space, I began to think about when you'd probably be reading this and decided to share my views and remembrances of this special holiday.
I can remember as a child the excitement I had when we began the search for the perfect Easter dress. Along with a new dress came the gift of new shoes and maybe even a purse and hat. Of course the shoes, purse and hat had to be white.
I don't remember ever having knowledge of anything called the Easter Bunny. Although I do remember getting an Easter basket as a child. For some reason, though, I don't remember anything special about the basket other than the fact that it was something we used to put our &#8220finds” in during the egg hunt on Sunday morning and again in the afternoon.
Easter Sunday services were always a part of our day. Usually hearing the story again of the crucifixion and resurrection was the main idea for the preacher's message. Even as an adult, it's a story that renews my faith every time I hear it.
My son is learning about Easter as I tell him stories and pass along my beliefs and expectations about the holiday and life in general.
During some afternoon walks recently, I took the opportunity to share the story of the dogwood tree with him. I pointed out a tree in a neighbors yard on one such walk. The following day I made it a point to pull a bloom from a tree and explain the meanings behind the components of the white bloom to him.
I explained the symbols shown in the bloom that we can look to as a reminder of what Jesus did for us.
The four petals symbolize the body of Jesus with a bloodstain and a nail hole at the tip of each petal. Those blood stains and nail holes signify how hands, feet and head bled for our sins.
The center circle in the bloom represents the crown of thorns placed on Jesus' head before being crucified.
I further explained the legend of the tree itself to my son as listened attentively. The legend explains that the wood of the tree was used to build the cross on which Jesus was crucified. In order to see to it that nothing like that would ever happen again, God put a curse on the tree seeing to it that the tree grew crooked and twisted and not very strong. Because of that, the tree won't produce a straight enough trunk to allow for a cross being taken from the tree.
My son was fascinated by the story and seemed to absorb the magnitude of the events of Jesus' crucifixion.
I hope it did make an impact on him. I want him to realize that even though we can sometimes do bad things, Jesus has already made arrangements to forgive us and give us another chance. I like the idea of having another chance since I mess up pretty often.
The Easter stories are plentiful across the Internet this year. I've learned some things that I didn't know and refreshed my memory of things I had forgotten.
I hope you'll share the story of Easter with your children and grandchildren this year. Even if they've heard it before, I firmly believe they will find interest in the story again. It never ceases to amaze me.
May you be given another chance on this Easter Sunday.
Happy Easter!
Lisa Tindell is a news writer for The Brewton Standard. She can be reached at 867-4876 or by email at lisa.tindell@brewtonstandard.com.