I was eight years old and awoke at 6 am to excitedly discover what the Easter Bunny had brought me overnight. I got my sister out of bed and pulled her into the living room while my parents groggily stumbled in, yawning and rubbing sleep out of their eyes.
We scanned the room and finally found what we were looking for—our Easter Baskets, filled with that messy fake basket grass along with a few gifts and some candy that we gobbled up before the day was over. I always wanted one of those pre-made, shiny, cellophane-wrapped baskets that other kids in the neighborhood received. Those baskets had toys and lots of candy and too many good things to name.
I never got one. In our baskets the Easter Bunny always left us homemade items, generic candy, and, “Ugh,” clothes. One time he did leave me a wonderful plastic gardening set, which I promptly broke because I went outside and tried to dig in the frozen tundra of Northern Idaho.
Later in life when I was a Dad, the Easter Bunny brought my children one of those seemingly glorious Easter Baskets. And you know what? It wasn’t that great. Most of what you saw through the cellophane was window dressing for the junk inside: cheap toys that fell apart, not enough good candy, lots of filler instead of the treasure we thought we would find.
By all accounts, it was a bust. After finding the baskets we would collect the eggs that were hidden around the room and then go to Easter Mass, and later, have dinner that was usually cooked by my Dad. Those are the memories I cherish and hope that my children do too.
Much like the “Holy Grail” Easter Basket, there are things in our lives that seem important and substantial but when we get a little closer, we see that they are not that great. I was so focused on the Easter Basket and the gifts, that I didn’t understand or appreciate the real treasure, which was the memories being created by spending time with family, in addition to celebrating the resurrection and miracle of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I still don’t know if I can fully comprehend the magnitude of his grace, love, and mercy, and the gift he gave us through his sacrifice.
As I grew, I had the opportunity to celebrate Easter each year and gain a greater understanding of Easter’s true meaning, and the traditions that reinforced the meaning of the Holiday. I went to a private Catholic school. Each year we attended Ash Wednesday Mass, Palm Sunday Mass, Good Friday and of course Easter Sunday Mass. I loved the stations of the cross that we would do at church during Lent on Wednesdays and Fridays, following the steps Jesus took during the last week of His life.
The 14 stations of the cross are a reminder and reinforcer of His sacrifice and atonement that bring us into the presence of the Father. I love now that we usually prepare for Easter by going to General Conference and hearing from a prophet who gives us counsel and words of comfort in a tumultuous time in an uncertain world.
President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told us just last week that “the Gospel of Jesus Christ has never been needed more than it is today. Contention violates everything the Savior stood for and taught. I love the Lord Jesus Christ and testify that His gospel is the only enduring solution for peace. His gospel is a gospel of peace.” These are words of comfort and direction in uncertain times.
Several years ago, prior to the pandemic, my wife and I visited Rome, Italy and spent a lot of time in churches and places considered holy by many people throughout the world. We saw a piece of wood that allegedly came from the infant Christ’s manger, the chains that held Saint Peter while he was imprisoned in Rome, the “Scala Santa” or the sacred steps that led to Pilate’s palace, and the prison that housed both Peter and Paul for a time while they tried to preach in the city.
I felt a closeness to the first Christians as I walked among these ancient spaces and viewed the relics and artifacts that came from the period of Christ. How much better will it be when I get to visit the Holy Land?!
In Rome’s Mamertine Prison I contemplated the work done by Peter and Paul, and rededicated myself to being a true disciple of Jesus Christ, as they were. I wonder if it was there, in that dark and hopeless dungeon that Paul wrote, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by His Grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hat set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:23-25).
As I look back on my life and mine the memories of childhood Easters, and then the Easters I shared with my little family, I am grateful for perspective. I am grateful for the perspective that as I mature in age I also mature in my appreciation of our Savior and His Atonement. Material things don’t have the same weight and shininess as they once did. I can humble myself as a child without being a child. I can look forward to Easter while remembering and appreciating the real reason for the Holiday.
I hope that I have learned that the Easter Basket is only a distraction to the things in life that are real, important, and meaningful. Let us all look forward to this Easter by creating memories with our families, and by remembering and celebrating our Savior and His ultimate sacrifice.
– by Cary M. Deccio, Tropic
Feature image caption: Cary Deccio contemplated the experiences of the early Christians as he walked through Rome’s Mamertine Prison that housed both Peter and Paul. Was it there that Paul wrote his letters describing our redemption through Jesus Christ? Courtesy of Cary Deccio.
Read more about Easter treasures amidst everyday life in Abbie Call’s Easter and Taking on the World’s Problems.