My mother was born on Good Friday and Easter was always her favorite time. She studied piano for many years and often spoke of the lavish Easter egg hunts her teacher threw for her pupils. In those days there were live chicks and bunnies given away (thank heaven society realizes that is wrong now, as people do not commit to the little animals for their lives and they wind up abandoned or worse). I have always loved Easter more than Christmas. And hunting for Easter eggs is the ONLY type of hunting I adore! Well, that and scavenger hunts. I grew up in an apartment and we really did not have anywhere to go so each year I would wake up and Mama had hidden eggs all over the living room. As I got older it became more difficult to find them all. She had a baby grand piano and I could always count on an egg placed carefully inside the wood before the strings. I think it was the nicest thing she ever did for me and I looked forward to it more and more with each passing year. Now they just dump eggs on the lawn and kids scramble for them; where is the fun in that? I am thrilled that my little girl gets to go to an elegant country club where they have the Easter Bunny, a lovely buffet, face painting, baby animals to pet, a pony to ride, and a colorful train in addition to the egg collection. But this is the year I am going to start my mother’s tradition of a real hunt inside our home. It will require time, patience, and thought. I have often wished my husband would do some type of treasure hunt for me. But of course the greatest gift any of us could ever hope to receive has already been given: through the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ who gave His life so that we all might live. The British Cardinal Basil Hume said:
“The great gift of Easter is hope – Christian hope which makes us have that confidence in God, in his ultimate triumph, and in his goodness and love, which nothing can shake.”
My little one will awaken tomorrow to an Easter basket full of goodies. But it is my hope that she will discover the joy of eternal hope through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. His treasures abound; we have only to see them.
