Spiritual Growth

As a child, I thought Easter was the minor league Christmas. The whole affair encompassed fake grass hiding cheap candy and peeps, scratchy and uncomfortable Sunday School outfits my mom called adorable and smart as in "Now don't you look smart?", and the expected annual edition of the Guiness book of World Records that always came off as freak show to me. I mean almost every edition had this picture of a Pakistani man with the worlds longest fingernails. They were twisty and two toned in color as they resembled small snakes emerging from the tips of each finger on his left hand like some Middle Eastern version of Medusa.
I always had this misunderstanding of the entire occasion and what it really meant. Heck, for what it's worth I even saw Christmas as some kinda reverse birthday party where the guest doesn't show and all the other kids got his gifts. Santa always brought a few but not all and the ones he left were usually big and preassembled like a slot car race track or a miniature train set. I can remember my dad telling me I should appreciate the gift from Santa because Santa really had a time putting it together. I remember one year being told by my mother, "Santa got kinda mad putting this racetrack together for you. He almost gave up on it and went to bed....er...I mean he almost left and went to another boys house.
Don't misunderstand, I mean we had the nativity scene set up and alot of Christmas spirit. The true meaning wasn't ignored but we always watched Rudolph and Frosty as well as Charlie Brown. The fake candles were in the window and the tree was always bare until Christmas morning. I just never really took in what each holiday was really all about.
Then I had kids. Two boys two years apart. My wife and I got to play the roles my parents played throughout my youth. By this time I had more than a rudimentary knowledge of the gospel's and their message. As soon as my boys were old enough to comprehend the scripture I began sharing stories of the Bible and what they meant to me. In turn, I also gained a new perspective on all of it. In short, by teaching them I taught myself. From David and Goliath to Sampson and Delilah to Abraham and Isaac to the trials of Job to the Sermon on the Mount to the Passion to the significance of the sign of Jonah to the missions of Paul and the Acts of the Apostles.
My children were my best educators regarding the messages of the scriptures. I really wanted to share the true meanings because Paul warned of false teachers and the importance of removing myself from the lesson and being as much in the Spirit as possible. I know I am flawed due to my humanness. "For all have sinned and fallen short....."
Easter is the foundation upon which the entire Christian faith is laid. Without it we who claim to follow Christ are merely members of a failed cult. I feel if it were all a hoax and a put on the Apostles (with John being the exception) would not have proclaimed Christ the Messiah all the way to their own crucifixion or flaying or beheading. Stephen was the first Martyr and even Saul (later to be known as Paul) held the cloaks of those who stoned him while Steven prayed for them. At no time did any of them declare, "WAIT!!! It is all a charade!! A hoax!!! I didn't mean it!!! Don't skin me alive!! Don't feed me to the lions!!! Don't crucify me upside down!! Don't cut my head off!!! Don't burn me alive!!!!". No, instead each and everyone of them proclaimed the good news to their own gruesome and painful death. This is a faith built on truth and the human condition and the nature of man would argue if it were not true it would have died and faded away long ago. Instead, we have this faith based on love and forgiveness and charity, not a faith based on beheading all who reject it or killing our brother in Gods very name.
I am grateful for where I am and where I have come from to get here.
Happy Easter to all.