In the weeks running up to Easter as always, the shops all over and especially the shelves at the dollar stores display an overwhelming assortment of candy treats taking the form of eggs and bunnies. Lightly dismissing all this as an ancient folk tradition, I simply rationalised that eggs symbolised new birth and thus, the Christian salvation message of “new life ” and promise of resurrection. In my youth and busy adult life, I had more interesting things to occupy my mind than research on the subject so I left it at that. It’s only now, with the easy access to instant information at my fingertips and having more time at leisure, I came out of the dollar store and found myself puzzling “Why the bunny? Do rabbits lay eggs? I think not. Then why ?

Of course I immediately googled it. Found a plethora of stories and articles as expected. I gathered a wide consensus favored retellings of this story origin about the Easter rabbit symbol you can read more about at https://History.com

“According to some sources, the Easter bunny first arrived in America in the 1700s with German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania and transported their tradition of an egg-laying hare called “Osterhase” or “Oschter Haws.” Their children made nests in which this creature could lay its colored eggs.”

Interesting how much the human race have this craving to create visual symbols and artifacts !

SAVED BY THE CROSS
Blow after blow
Heavy hammers slammed
Driving in rusty nails
Nailing flesh to wood
Not wood to wood
His mother, brothers and disciples stood
Sobbing…wondering “Why?”
Why blameless he was condemned to die!

The triumph of Palm Sunday so soon gone
On his head a crown of twisted thorn
The soldiers pierced him with their spears,
They flogged him and mocked
The crowd flung stones and rocks
He endured a torturous painful death
For us mortals that we may learn
Of God’s love and promise of life eternal

For us who believe in the risen Christ
Who believe in the power of the Cross
Christ’s shed blood is God’s amazing love
On the Cross Christ paid the ransom for us all fallen
As he breathed his last with these words
Addresed to his Father, our Almighty God
“Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

Verses penned by Nellie Har