How do you teach someone how to celebrate Easter?
Do you really point them in the direction of colored eggs and plastic grass?
This episode of the Merry Little Podcast tells the true story of an atheist who has had a spiritual experience.
Profoundly changed by this out-of-the-blue event, he wants to know how his celebration of Christmas and Easter should change.
What would you say to him?
It is always a little scary to approach the very personal topics of the spiritual connections to Christmas and Easter.
And yet, we can’t ignore or gloss over them.
For many years this man was one who alternated between anger and mocking when it came to things spiritual. And yet, he has always celebrated Christmas as a matter of tradition — and, for him, out of what he calls “stubborn nostalgia”.
He is not unusual. Many of the faithless celebrate Christmas.
But now, a mid-life experience has changed it altogether for him.
Christmas this year will be very different. And Easter — how does he wrap his head around that?
This episode tells his story — carefully — and explores the connections between Christmas and Easter.
I am sorry to hear you have had a hard start to 2018. I had noticed the lack of podcasts but this is my first year as a paying member, so I thought maybe you Always took a break after the big event. While I love Christmas, Easter is actually my favorite holiday and should be celebrated not with mourning, but with joy. I Think with the continued secularization of society, it has lost it’s meaning and thus becomes almost a non event. People have egg hunts and brunches, which are fine, but that is all they have. I would tell you friend that to get a deeper spiritual meaning out of Christmas to focus on Advent. There are guides put out by many different Christian Groups and online that focus each day on the spiritual meaning. For Easter, the Swedish Church focuses on one gospel per year (this is the year of Luke), so one could also apply that same principal to Christmas. Once the heart is open, it seems that opportunities pop up. Going to an Advent service or classical Concert in a Church or Cathedral can also be a profound spiritual experience. Some people fine meaning in volunteering that time of year. The possibilities are endless. Best of luck to both you and your friend for a better 2018.