Memories of Snow

Easter Sunday Memories

Easter Sunday Memories

I was raised a Southern Baptist in Blackwell, Oklahoma. I remember going to the airport, which was across the street from my Grandparent Newland's house in the Smelter Heights. The city, at least I think it was the City of Blackwell, had an Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday before Easter Sunday. Grandpa Frank and Grandma Mary would take us across the road to the airport on Saturday morning. We took Easter baskets with us to hold the Easter eggs we found. We would find decorated eggs wrapped candy eggs. After the egg hunt was over we would go home and we could eat the eggs we found.

Another thing we did was color Easter eggs at my Grandparents' house. We colored the eggs on Friday and Saturday afternoons. Then we would put the eggs in the refrigerator so that Grandma or Grandpa could hide them on Easter Sunday afternoon. We were allowed to eat the eggs after we found them. Every Easter Sunday morning we woke up to find an Easter basket full of candy and colored eggs. In each Easter basket was a chocolate bunny.

We would go to the Southern Baptist Mission on Easter Sunday morning where we would hear the story of Christ. The teachers in the Sunday school classes would have activities that taught about the Resurrection of Christ. When we went into the main area of the church for the preaching then we would hear about the Resurrection again. When I was growing up I always thought that Easter was a Christian celebration. I also thought that the only religion in the world was Christian. I knew that there were several denominations of Christianity, but, except for Judaism, I did not know there were other religions. I thought the world was divided into the saved (Christians) and the unsaved (non-Christians).

After I grew up I learned that Easter was also a pagan celebration. I also learned that there were other religions that believed in the existence of one God. The thing that worried me most when I was growing up was about the people who were born before the appearance of Christ. How were they supposed to be saved? Eventually, I found the Baha'i faith which answered all my questions about the people born before the appearance of Christ.