THROUGH
MOUNTAIN MISTS
Early Settlers of
Their
Descendants...Their Stories...Their Achievements
Lifting the
Mists of History on Their Way of Life
By: Ethelene Dyer Jones
Because of the special time on
our calendar
known as Holy Week, from Sunday April 5 through Sunday April 12, I will
suspend
regular historical writing on early settlers and their descendants and
focus on
events observed throughout the world.
Even with the limelight on a
special week,
it is good that we consider its historical significance and the weight
centuries of observation plays on our present-day celebrations of this
event in
the Christian year.
Christmas and Easter: One does
not have
significant meaning without the other. The birth of Christ which we
observe at
Christmas splits time in two. Ever since that significant date,
whatever time
of the year it happened originally, we have had B. C. and A. D.—Before
Christ
and Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord.
But Christmas without Easter
would not have
had worldwide and centuries-long impact. The latter celebration gives
the
former purpose and direction.
Since time as we know it was set
by the
birth of Christ, we might think that Easter, which does not have a
division of
time named for it, is less significant. But great Christian leaders of
the
world, from the earliest time until the present, have been avid in
proclaiming
that without the death of Christ and His resurrection, His birth would
hold far
less importance. Easter, then, authenticates the purpose, the mission
of the
Babe of Bethlehem, Emmanuel, God with us.
It was not until about the 3rd
century A.
D. that churches began to observe what we know as the season of Easter.
We
oftentimes complain that both Christmas and Easter are too secularized,
a time
for buying and selling, excessive giving, and many celebrations that
are far
removed from the spiritual meaning of these two holy seasons. As a
matter of
convenience, both seasons were set upon dates already observed in pagan
cultures.
We must remember that Christianity was launched in a pagan world.
The date of Easter changes
slightly each
year and comes no earlier than March 22 and no later than April 25. To
confuse
the date further, Eastern Orthodox and Western Orthodox observances of
Easter
are oftentimes on different calendar dates. That is because the Eastern
date is
set using the Julian calendar and the Western date is set using the
Gregorian
calendar. To confuse matters further, the date for Easter is set not on
the
astronomical first full moon after the spring equinox, but on the
Sunday
immediately following the Paschal or Ecclesiastical full moon. When I
read
about how it is enumerated, I'm just grateful that someone in the know
can
determine the date for Easter and let us know.
Regardless of how it came to be
and when,
it was named Easter by Venerable Bede, because a celebration was
already in
place to honor a Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon goddess named Eostre (or
Estre). She
was believed to be the goddess of the rising light of day and the dawn
of
spring. It seemed to Venerable Bede that, since Christ's death and
resurrection
brought light and new life, it would be well to name the celebration of
His
coming forth from the grave Easter.
Those who delve into and record
statistics
tell us that Easter is the one Sunday in the year when more people
attend
Christian churches, regardless of denomination, than any other day of
the
year—even Christmas. Ask these once-a-year church-goers if they are
Christians
and they will probably respond "Yes." After all, does not their
faithfulness on Easter Sunday prove this? They believe in life after
death.
They have a hope of their own resurrection following death. After all,
Jesus
Christ, Son of God, Savior, crucified on what we now term "Good Friday"
broke the bonds of death that bound him. Will He not do the same for
believers?
Did he not promise the thief on the cross who believed in him, "This
day
you will be with me in
I read with a great deal of
concern that
the twentieth century registered more martyrs for the faith than any
other
century. Considering how many Christians lost their lives in the early
years
after the resurrection when the church was spreading rapidly and
believers were
killed for their faith, this statistic was alarming. In the year 2,000,
over
150,000 Christians worldwide were martyred. Those who study trends
predict that
persecution will spread and that even in the
Strong Christ-centered beliefs
played an
important role in the formation of
Easter is a good time to
evaluate our
seriousness of belief and commitment. Easter can be a new beginning, a
time
when night turns to day, darkness to light, mourning to joy, despair to
hope,
weakness to strength, fear to courage, distress to peace, defeat to
victory;
death to life. A catchy but truthful saying made the rounds a few years
ago.
The statement was: "If it is to be, it is up to me." Could we think
on these things this Holy Week and Easter—and even beyond, all year
long?
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