Saturday thoughts . . . and a bit of this and that

I got a chocolate rabbit,
For an Easter treat,
A great big chocolate rabbit ,
Good enough to eat. 
So I ate his ears on Sunday, 
His nose I finished Monday. 
Tuesday I nibbled on his feet. 
I ate his tail on Wednesday 
Thursday I kept on, 
By Friday he was going, 
Saturday he was gone. 
 Oh, I loved my chocolate rabbit,
From the moment that he came,
 And if I get another one,
I’ll love him just the same.”
 ~Unknown
  
Oh boy, did I ever love my chocolate Easter Bunny when I was growing up.   Some years we would get a solid chocolate one and that was good, but I loved the pretty foil wrapped hollow ones more.  They were just prettier and so lovely to look at.

One year I thought I would see how long I could save my chocolate bunny before eating it.  I had a bookcase headboard on my bed with a section that had a sliding door so you could close things in.  I carefully stuck him in there.   (I don't know why I always call Easter Bunnies he.  I just do.)  Anyways, my cousins came to visit with my Aunt and Uncle that Easter.  It was a real novelty having cousins living close by enough to visit as we'd always lived too far away to do that before that year.  We had a great visit . . . playing together and all sorts.   That night, after they had gone, I decided that I would maybe just nibble on my Easter Bunny's feet . . . just a little bit . . . I slid open the door and all that was laying in my little cubby hole was the tinfoil wrapper . . . some kind and generous soul had beaten me to it.

That was the last time I ever kept an Easter Bunny for later!
 
Talking about Easter Bunnies and Eggs . . . it really winds Todd up.  He doesn't get it.  He goes on and on about them being pagan things . . . intertwined with Christian things . . . to make up a sort of Christian Pagan celebration.  He does the same thing at Christmas.   I think it's only pagan if you  think make it Pagan in your mind.  I know these traditions may have Pagan roots . . . but I don't think it makes them wrong.   I put my own spin on them . . . and they have never ever meant anything more than a celebration of the Savior's Resurrection to me.  So I can quite happily munch on a chocolate bunny or an egg while old grumble guts sits in the corner.   I have noticed he never turns down a hot cross bun however!



The most important thing to me about Easter is the resurrection of the Savior of course . . . and all these other things to me represent a part of the Easter Message of rebirth and renewal . . . Spring when all is fresh and new, washed clean by the melting Winter snows and the Spring rains . . .

I love to sing the Easter Hymns, and watch the Easter films . . . and by that I don't mean Wizard of Oz or Mary Poppins . . . I mean Shoes of the Fisherman, or the Ten Commandments . . . that kind of film.  But my favourite things are the hymns and getting to go to church on Easter Sunday to sing them and to renew my covenants with the Savior with the partaking of the sacrament.  My favourite Easter hymn has to be "Tell Me the Story of Jesus," written in 1880 by a woman named Fanny Crosby . . .

Tell me the story of Jesus,
Write on my heart every word;
Tell me the story most precious,
Sweetest that ever was heard.

Tell how the angels in chorus,
Sang as they welcomed His birth,
“Glory to God in the highest!
Peace and good tidings to earth.”

Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain;
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.

 Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see;
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
“Love paid the ransom for me.”

 

I love the Savior with all of my heart and . . . yes . . . when I think of what He did for me, and for all mankind . . . my heart is overwhelmed with love and gratitude, and tears do fall.  I hate to think that I played any part in the nails that pierced his hands and feet . . . but I know that I do.  And yet, at the same time, my heart sings for I know He Lives!  And because of that I too will live again.  Death has lost it's sting and it's power, and that is the most beautiful gift I have ever received.  And it doesn't matter to me that the celebration of it is accompanied with chocolate eggs and bunnies . . . Easter Ham or Lamb . . . egg hunts and lilies and new bonnets and bubbles . . . bags of marbles and the like.  I know the true meaning of these most holiest of days and I hold that knowledge in my heart and my mind like a precious jewel . . . and I will shout it to the rooftops all the days of my life.  He lives and because he does . . . I, too . . . can live and be whole again.

“On that very night, the night of the greatest suffering that has ever taken place in the world or that ever will take place, the Savior said, "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you... Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
~Jeffrey R Holland

Oh how it humbles my heart to know that even in the depths of the despair and suffering that He knew would come . . .  the Savior still gave us these words of comfort.

Tis sweet to sing the matchless love, 
of Him who left his home above,
And came to earth . . . oh wondrous plan . . . 
To suffer, bleed and die for man!

Tis good to meet each Sabbath day
And, in his own appointed way,
Partake the emblems of his death,
And thus renew our love and faith.

Oh, blessed hour!  Communion sweet!
When children, friends, and teachers meet
And, in remembrance of his grace,
Unite in sweetest songs of praise.

For Jesus died on Calvary!
That ALL through Him might ransomed be.
Then sing Hosannas to his name;
Let heav'n and earth his love proclaim.
~George A Manwaring



To each of you I wish the most blessed and beautiful Easter.  May it be filled with the love of family and friends, and the peace and joy that comes from knowing that we are not alone . . . we are never alone . . . and that we are loved with a matchless love that is priced beyond measure.

And may that wondrous gift be sprinkled with a bit of chocolate goodies too.

 

Baking in The English Kitchen today . . . Fruit and Nut Scrolls for Easter.

Due to the clocks moving forward over here tonight, I probably won't have time to write a post tomorrow morning, so just in case I don't make it here . . .

Happy Easter!
God bless you all my dear sweet friends.