How do you celebrate Easter Sunday

Easter is a special holiday for Christians.

How do you celebrate this very special day?

Years ago, in my home community....we had a "travelling Minister" who went from church to church within our area performing the Easter Service. Sometimes...the Easter Service at our Church would be at 11 A.M. and at other times...because of our travelling Minister...the service could be held as early as 5.A.M..
My mother prepaired a basket draped with an emboidered cloth and within that basket was homemade "paska" (a braided egg-bread that was filled with cottage cheese/green onions and an egg mixture in the centre of the braided ring) surrounded by hand-decorated Ukranian Easter-eggs...dill pickles...garlic sausage....cheeses, erc.
At the end of the Easter Service.....the Easter Baskets were Blessed. (Before the Easter Service...we observed lent...and we fasted until the Easter Service and the Blessing of the Baskets was over. On our way home after the service...we...the starving kids....were anxious to get to the basket and...so we did!
Always...we had a house-full of company to entertain after the Easter Service at our Church. Mom roasted chickens the day before and had everything prepared for the onslaught of family and friends who would gather at our home mid-afternoon. We munched on our decorated hard-boiled eggs (after having an egg-cracking contest) and /garlic sausage/ dill pickles/ and paska...as soon as we returned home from Church....and then Mom got to work preparing for our guests.

Always...Easter was a beautiful day, with so much meaning, unlike what it is today.

How did you spend Easter, did the holiday do you good?

Did you think of Jesus Christ, or of the things for which He stood

Did you go to any church or chapel, or even pause to pray

Did you remind yourself of His suffering on that eventful day.

Did you hear His strangled cry, when He gave up the Ghost

Did you share the Christian joy of His resurrection by the Host.

Did you listen to that sermon that your priest prepared with care,

Did you feel a certain presence when there wasn't anybody there.

Did His sacrifice for Mankind fall on barren stony ground.

How did you spend this Easter, is your faith still strong, still sound?


I spent this Easter in my Temple, built in a place deep in my mind

I searched the dark and lonely labyrinths for a peace I did not find.

I called out for reunion with the soul that was my mate,

I listened to the echoes that my anguished cries did create.

I was visited by no one, from this world or the next,

I read, re-read the Bible until I memorised the text.

I remained within my Temple, even though in my mind, I journeyed far,

I took with me her photograph, my light, my burning star.

I 'visited' the family, they all smiled and wished me well,

I spent this Easter in my Temple, enduring the agonies of Hell.


I ask not for your pity, or even comment on my plight,

For now it is a way of life for me, each lonely day and night.

I just asked, "How did you spend your Easter" a question, that is all

Did you spare a thought for Him, did you pray in the church hall,

Did you listen to that sermon,..... it was a political tirade.

Who ordained these politicians, that's how the first mistake was made.

Christ died for us all at Easter, His fate was preordained

By His father, Creator of us all, when our faith in God had waned.

He sacrificed His son for us and we were witnesses to this sight,

So, depending on how you spent your time, have pity on your plight.



You have another chance on the 24th April 2011

Well DaffyD....yours is the ultimate expression of Easter!!!

Thank you so much for your inspirational writings!

My Easter will be spent this year...as it has been in the past several years, with my family, but not as religiously as I was brought up to celebrate it.

Again, this year, according to the tradition of my immediate family, .....we will join together and enjoy an Easter Brunch and then spend the rest of the day at my Son's home.

My daughter-in-law's parents host our Thanksgiving dinners and it's a time for our children and our Granddaughter to come together and share in our Blessings and to share in one another's company. Christmas Eve is celebrated at my home and Christmas Day is celebrated at my Son and his families' home....again a time for togetherness, because it's difficult for all of us to be together throughout the year.
For Easter, I take my family and my daughter-inlaw's parents out for a lovely Easter buffet brunch and recently, we've been enjoying a unique restaurant on the outskirts of my city which puts on a beautiful buffet and the atmosphere is lovely and it's out in the countryside, which is so lovely in spring-time.

The religious aspect is not as prominent as it once was....but we still celebrate Easter...in our way...and with the true meaning of Easter.

Perfect dear Willows, a more idyllic scene I could not have imagined, however there are many who are alone through one reason or another. Can you imagine being entirely alone..... ?

ENTIRELY ALONE

I am sure we have all been lonely

at sometime in our life,

But I want to speak of lonely

when you've just lost a husband or a wife.

A partnership dissolved

after maybe thirty, forty years,

When there's very few around you

who even knows, or cares.

I want to speak of lonely

when the only sound you hear

Is the persistent clicking of a household clock

that drags you through the year.



I want to speak of lonely

when you know it will never end,

Please, do not confuse lonely

as time waiting for a friend.

Can you imagine lonely

without another human voice,

Can you imagine Christmas, Birthdays,

with whom will you rejoice?

Imagine shortening your waking hours

by staying in your bed,

Because the only voices you will hear

are those voices in your head.



I want to speak of lonely

when you have to cook a meal for one,

The thought of food deserts you

before preparations have begun.

Everything you want to do

was always shared before,

There's no laughter in your household,

there's no singing anymore.

There's only you, and silence,

save for the ticking of that clock

And when you experience such loneliness

it can come as quite a shock.



I want to speak of lonely

when the long day comes to a close,

And when you prepare that sleeping draught

perhaps a little extra dose?

Then softly, softly, you climb the stairs

to face that empty bed,

So that you may lie upon the pillow

that once cradled your partner's head.

Then endless hours of sleeplessness

as your mind re-lives the past,

Until you slip into that abyss of darkness

you are asleep at last.



I want to speak of lonely

when your only contact is in dreams.

Do you really know what lonely is

or only what it seems?

Do you understand the loneliness

of the aged, or bereaved,

Can you understand the suffering

of a soul mate who has grieved?

Do you in your innocence

refrain to think of this,

When all a lonely soul like me requires

is a hug, or perhaps a kiss?



Daffyd
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I can't open your website here...DaffyD..but I do know the sound and the lyrics from before!

What beautiful and sentimental words were written!!...."Entirely Alone"

I don't remember if these words were David Burts".....or yours.

Whatever...they are truly beautiful.

Thank you for your interest
Such kind thoughts are nice to see
David Burt knows just what you said
For David Burt..... is me!
The audio is slow to open
Just give it a little time
Failing that....after several attempts
I'm afraid you'll have to mime

Thought you would enjoy watching this topical video and hearing as the artist explains each element of this beautiful mural of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This 12' x 40 'painting will be displayed in a Dallas museum.


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Wow!

Thank you for posting this DaffyD! What an artist!....and a great explanation!

I really enjoyed the artist's work Daffyd.

Thank you.

Soooooo.....

Do you paint and decorate eggs for Easter....and if so........how do you do it?

So many techniques out there these days!

Do you include your grandchildren?..and do they share their "school-crafting techniques" with you??

Do you have Easter-Egg cracking contests around the dining-room table?

I have eggs that were decorated by my Grandmother in the 1960's, with a "keestika" in a Ukranian design. They were not "blown-eggs" and still..... they sit in my Curio Cabinet in whole!
Hmmmm...I believe that after all this time....if I should break one...the odor would not be as intense as it could have been before! LOL!

The tradition of decorating Easter Eggs was passed down from my Grandmother but my feeble attempts, surely are not in display in my Curio Cabinet!!

My granddaughter will have a basket-full again this Easter, of her creations! They will be beautiful, simply because she created them! All sorts of mediums...and each egg will have it's own personality, I'm sure...and I'm so much looking forward to seeing them on Easter Sunday!

I'm taking my family as well as my daughter-inlaw's parents out for our traditional Easter Brunch again this year and after that we will gather at my son and daughter-in-law's house to enjoy the photos of their DisneyWorld Adventures and Cruise in their home-theatre.
After that..we will surely crack some eggs and betchya dollars-to-donuts......my Granddaughter will win! (We sort of spoil her.....but she's the least spoiled kid that I've ever known!!)

Happy Easter Everyone!

Wishing you all the BEST of everything...but mostly......if you can...
Have a Happy Easter
With your family!

If that is not to be......
My heart is with those who are suffering or who are saddened during this Holy time.

You are in my heart.

Willows


Duhhhhh....DaffyD!!

Just reading back on this topic.....I read........"David Burt is me"

Wow!!....I am humbled!

Holey-Moley!!!....have I been bantering with the best!!!????