Posted by:
westernwillows
(
)
Date: April 21, 2019 06:32PM
I am BIC, raised by devout, but not crazy fanatical, TBM parents. I left the church the day I moved out of my parent's house at 18. I attended a small, Methodist-affiliated college, and Easter was a BIG DEAL. It wasn't until college that I realized how much I knew about Easter. I'd never heard of Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, or Good Friday. I knew the basic story of Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection, but that was it.
Many Easters fell on General Conference Sunday, and General Conference was definitely the highlight of the day rather than anything Jesus related (four hours, sitting in the dark, in a stiff, itchy, new dress makes for happy childhood Easter memories ;) ) Those were almost better than the years when Easter fell on a different Sunday and we had to sing the funeral dirges -- er, I mean Sacrament hymns -- and nothing else for the whole meeting. I don't remember the lessons being Jesus-centered, or any special music programs or anything like that. Perhaps your ward was different. This was in the 1990s and early 2000s.
My dad always bought me a chocolate bunny and we dyed eggs together, but that was the extent of our Easter celebration at home.
After leaving the church, I'm an agnostic and haven't ever attended another Christian church's Easter service, but friends tell me they can be quite spectacular. They leave feeling uplifted and happy, which is the opposite of what I've ever felt after a Mormon service. So, I celebrate chocolate bunnies instead =)
Did you understand Easter as a TBM kid? My upbringing was church-centered, and definitely not Jesus-centered, even on Easter.