Happy Easter! A story of my Faith.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about my faith in Christ. Today being Easter, I felt this might be a good time to share this with all of you. Do not be wary, this is not a sermon. I just have realized a few things and feel like sharing.

As I mentioned, today is Easter. In the Christian tradition this is the remembrance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Unlike Christmas, we know that our dates are right. He was crucified at the end of Passover. Yet, like Christmas we do a lot of things that seem to be a little strange for a Christian holiday.

(Yes, these are peeps eating an Easter feast of ... peeps.)

I think that even the most ignorant of Christians realizes that eggs and bunnies have nothing to do with Easter. 

(But they are awfully cute!)

So, I find it offensive when people post articles about the Pagan origins of these traditions. I feel like it insults my intelligence. As if I, as a foolish believer in unseen things, thinks that Romans pelted Christ with decorated eggs and set killer bunnies loose on his disciples. The fact of the matter is that long long ago a powerful and unnamed church decided to get more followers by adding in some good old pagan traditions to our new celebrations, and while they were at it they thought they would just try and time them about the same time. If you don't know where the traditions come from it is very interesting to read about from an historical perspective. Here is a link a friend of mine posted. (I know that she posted it in the spirit of knowledge, though, not in some means to sway believers against this holiday.)
http://ancienthistory.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_pagan_origins_of_easter

These musings on Easter and what it really means have me also reflecting on other discussions I have had of late with people about my faith. I think that some people may not think I am a very good Christian. Others may think I am too religious for their taste. In general though, I think most people really don't understand the faith I have. When asked about it I will offer my opinions, but until recently I was afraid to do even that. See, we live in a world where religions gets people nervous. And I don't like conflict. So, I just glide through and hold my faith in my heart and let others think what they like. I know and God knows my truth.

I have many friends who are atheists. And just over the last few weeks I have had really great conversations with them about God. I can't say I have tried to sway them to believe. I don't think that is a tactic that would ever work. I do, however, try to make them understand why I believe and  more importantly, to see that Christians are not all these people:

(I think the children hold these signs upsets me the most.)

And since it is these people, and the pedophile priests, and the polygamous cults that make the news, non-believers often see us all as the same. (I know many of my Mormon friends can relate because they get accused of many things that are far from the truth because of media portrayals that are misunderstood.) So, I try to make people see that those people up there are NOT what Christianity means. There are many many things that make up the Christian faith, but for me this scripture sums up what I want people to see:

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

- 1 Corinthians 13:13

I won't get into the arguments I have had about the existence of God. I won't get to sermonizing, witnessing, spreading the gospel, or whatever you might want to call it. That is not what this post is about. This post is about having faith in something. People have faith in a lot of things, but of all things, isn't this the best thing to have faith in? And if you are one who doesn't have faith, is it really so hard on you that others do? So, my faith remains. And I thank my friends who question it, because that makes it stronger. I pray that more and more people understand that this Christian, and most of the others I know, are not them (see above). Our faith rests on a loving God. And my greatest wish, or prayer, is that I will continue to have friends, believers and non-believers, who respect my faith, my opinions, and my random eccentricities from time to time. We can all love and live together without the strife and fight we see on the news. 

This is a day to celebrate the power of Faith. Blessings to all of you, even if you don't want them, because I love you even when we disagree.