Christmas: a time of happiness and laughter. A time when families up and down the country meet up and share tidings of joy. Whole communities light up the streets with carols, fun and festive fun. High streets are full to bursting with mothers fastidiously buying the perfect gifts, husbands and boyfriends looking terrified at the plethora of jewellery before them and children running up and down, eyes gleaming with awe at the toys in every shop. You can hardly leave the house without a rosy cheeked Father Christmas giving you some sort of leaflet. The dinner, the presents, the festivities; you can’t help but be sucked into it if you’re a Christian or not.
Easter: What festivities? If we are to be candid, the most exciting part of Easter is the re-emergence of the Cadbury’s Cream Eggs. Walking out on Easter Sunday is just the same as any other day. I myself played football this Easter but at Christmas, heaven forbid anyone should leave the house- it’s Christmas! A few chocolate eggs in the morning to brighten my day before revision and that’s as far as Easter spirit goes. Easter is, quite simply, insipid.
No-one really cares about it. Like Christmas, it’s very much another money-making scheme with the supermarkets all battling it out to sell the cheapest chocolate eggs. The true message of Christmas may have been buried under all the commercial claptrap but it at least invigorates everyone with that `Christmassy feeling`. Easter on the other hand, does nothing of the sort. It’s just an ordinary day. In my house we genuinely receive our Easter Eggs a few days before and even before they’re pulled out of the Tesco bags, cries of “can I eat the Smarties inside? PLEASE!” (accompanied by simpering smiles of course). A resigned Mother sighs, “Fine but save the egg for Sunday.” That pretty much accentuates the gestures towards Easter across the country: `save it for Sunday`. That’s all we care to do to celebrate the rebirth of Christ.
It’s obvious to see why people love Christmas so much. I mean, who doesn’t love free stuff?! Free stuff is great. You go and buy some free stuff (why not make a day of it?) and, more importantly, you get some free stuff. It’s not a tricky sell, is it? But you can’t ask someone what they’re getting for Easter because everyone knows the answer: egg. It’s a shame really but that’s the way the world is nowadays. We’re so superficial that presents get us immediately on side whereas chocolate eggs are a mere novelty (albeit a tasty one).
It’s not all bad though. In this sceptical/ ignorant country (you decide), religion is getting far less credible every year and I may be an atheist but there’s still an undeniable charm about the resilient celebrations of Easter. If you were to pop down to Carshalton Beeches Baptist Church, the Easter Celebrations were going on pretty much all day and their commitment to Easter may have been a rarity but it was a sure sign that not everyone is superficial these days and that, at least, is something.
So next year, when you break into that chocolaty egg, just say “Happy Easter” because it’s the small things that will keep the celebration alive.
