Who's going to celebrate?

We moderns are just silly enough to think that it was a good idea to decouple ourselves from nature, from the natural world around us. Oh, I'm all for modern conveniences and technology (to an extent), but losing sight of where one comes from in the end means never being able to figure out where you're going. You lose all sense of orientation.

I find it meaningful that two of the world's significant religions decided to have their holidays at this particular time. The fact that they are movable, that they can, and do, occur not on a specific day but at a specific time, tells me that the fest was there first, the reason came later. This does not diminish the significance of either of religious holidays nor the reason for their veneration in each of their complex of beliefs. After all, what should religions be doing other than helping us understand ourselves and our lives more deeply. And I believe that is precisely what the religious stories surrounding this event do.

The Passover story is a story of true liberty, the chance to go forth and establish a just and free society. Sure, we're all still working on that ... most people everywhere are still working on that, but the story reminds us, at a minimum, that this particular struggle is worth the effort. It tells us that true freedom is gained with others, not in spite of others. The Resurrection story is also a story of freedom, the ultimate second chance. It is a story that tells us that even when we screw up, there is still hope for us, but only if we stop thinking just of ourselves and start thinking of others as well. What both stories tell us, what they have in common, of course, is that they are about a new lease on life ... not just the lackadaisical, oh-I'm-feeling-better kind, but rather a deep, profound, existential lease of life.

It is our modern arrogance that too often prevents us from accepting and embracing the opportunities we are given. Myth, my friends, is simply truer than we might want to believe. The details are not the deciding factor, the moral of the story is. The stories being told right now -- mythologically, spiritually, cosmologically -- are worth listening to. We all have reason to celebrate.

What's to celebrate?

Sometimes I'm just naive enough to think that everybody knows why we have holidays. I'm always amazed then when I find out how many people don't. OK, maybe it's not necessary to know the exact formula for figuring out when Easter and Passover come, but seen cosmologically, there does appear to be a very long-standing tradition of why it's now.

The Easter story is pretty straightforward: a young Jewish rabbi is accused of rousing too much rabble, so the powers-that-be decide his number's up and they crucify him -- the standard abominable punishment of the day; contrary to expectations, however, he doesn't stay buried, was raised from the dead, met his disciples leading them to draw the conclusion that this man was in fact the long-promised Messiah ... thus (in very abbreviated form) Christianity was born. Easter, then, is Christianity's defining moment: no Easter, no Christianity.

Passover is perhaps a little more complicated, but not very: the Hebrews are slaves in Egypt, Moses, who was incidentally raised by the Old Pharaoh, is tasked by G-d to get the New Pharaoh to free the slaves. After a dramatic series of events, the last of which killed the first born of the Egyptians, but not the Hebrews (for the Angel of Death passed them over), the Pharaoh relents, lets them go and they leave; then, after wandering in the desert for 40 years, they settle in what is now Israel and become the Jewish nation ... thus (in very abbreviated form) Judaism was born. Passover, then, is Judaism's defining moment: no Passover (Exodus), no Judaism.

Aside from any religious or ideological issues, am I the only one that finds it odd that these two holidays should coincide. OK, it's not all that rare that two different groups may have holidays around the same time, but these two holidays are not just any old holidays. Instead, in both instances they are the holidays that more or less define these two groups.

Sure, I hear the skeptics already shouting "coincidence", but to me the fundamental significance of these holidays speaks against that. As we saw between the years, it was anything but a matter of chance that Christmas ended up where it is, but what we also saw was that there had been a long tradition of a particular type of holiday at that time. Is it really to unreasonable to think that the same forces might be at work here? I don't think so.

Time to celebrate?

It might be advisable to get out of the hole for a moment. There are plenty of things to explore there, and we can get back to it whenever we please. It may have escaped your notice, but we've got the big spring thing going on, and I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention it.
Yes, for some it's Easter, of course, for others it is Passover. The close affinity of the two religions gives us the overlap.

Like Christmas, believe it or not, just when these holidays fall is also related to cosmological events. You will recall we have two solstices (when the sun is farthest and closest to the earth, the longest day and longest night, that is, the beginning of summer and the beginning of winter). You will also be happy to know we have two equinoxes as well, that is, days when the days and nights are of equal length. These occur when the sun crosses the equator going north (spring) or south (fall). Spring just recently sprang, so things are looking up. If you're not clouded in at night, though, you may want to check out the moon, because it is waxing (getting larger) and on Friday (the 6th, for most of us) it will be all filled up. We'll have our first full moon after the spring (that is, vernal) equinox. The first sabbath thereafter is when the holidays occur.

It's all very logical, isn't it? Perhaps. Just as I mentioned between the years, we moderns don't handle these kinds of things very well. It all seems to arbitrary, doesn't it? Well, actually, no ... at least not to one who is still aware of the fact that we humans, whether we like it or not, are still a part of nature and still very much influenced by it. When the moon is full, the tides are higher and water flows more strongly. When spring arrives, the plant realm awakens from it's winter sleep and things start to bloom. And our hibernating animal cousins awaken as well.

For anyone who wants to take it seriously, let's face it, this is precisely that point in the year when we get a new lease on life. That's reason to celebrate, isn't it?