Easter Wishes Over the Years

“In your Easter bonnet, With all the frills upon it. . .

“Oh, I could write a sonnet, About your Easter bonnet And of the girl I’m taking to the Easter parade.”

--Music (1917) and Lyrics (1933) by Irving Berlin; Sung by Fred Astaire and Judy Garland in the movie, “Easter Parade” 

Remember the years when every girl or woman, no matter how old, no matter how rich or poor, had to have an Easter bonnet (a new hat: the more elaborate, the better!) to wear to church on Easter morning? Those hats (of the Thirties, Forties, and early Fifties) must have caused as much of an uproar in a typical household as there was in my own generation caused by the anticipation of the visit by the Easter Bunny later in the day.

For my brothers and me, it was all about what we hoped for the Easter bunny to bring us in our Easter nests! Never mind that the Easter bunny was not Santa Claus: any excuse to get something we wanted (usually in the way of a new toy or baseball glove or doll dress or game).

Maybe God sometimes views our prayers as a similar “wishing game”: a chance for us to wish for (even pray for!) the fulfillment of our dreams. Oh, how that wish list can get longer and more complicated as we get older, not shorter. When we’re young, it’s often a list of the things that would entertain us. As we reach our late teens/twenties, it’s about finding someone who loves us and whom we can share our lives with, which is a considerably bigger wish than for toys to keep us entertained!

And then we reach our thirties and forties of adulthood, and our wishes are for healthy children, for success in our jobs/careers, for the month to run out before the last paycheck is all spent. As retired people in our 60s or 70s we wish for opportunities to travel, to see our children and grandchildren more often (if they don’t live with us!), and to NOT outlive our savings.

If we reach our 80s or 90s, my expectation is that we are mostly focused on our more immediate health needs: I’ll pray I won’t fall down when I’m out in public or by myself at home; I’ll pray my surviving family will all be happy and get along with one another when I’m gone.

Nowhere above have I given a thought to praying to be saved and have eternal life! I actually don’t pray for that, dear friends. And there’s only one reason I don’t: GOD HAS THAT COVERED, and IN SPADES! The sure confidence of being God’s fully forgiven and redeemed Child through baptism is the greatest assurance I can have my whole life long. And eternity is not a worry for me, for you, for any of us who know we are loved by God. My only response can be deep gratitude and joy.

Happy Easter, dear readers! CHRIST IS RISEN!

HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!