Two celebrations

April 6, 2013

Many years ago my brother Glenn shared a version of Easter that felt very good. Simply stated, he said that they celebrate spring bunnies, colored eggs, giggling girls and boys enjoying a pleasant Spring activity in which family and friends found warmth and excitement in being together and appreciating the beauties God has bestowed on his earthly creations. He went on to share that the Spring celebration, as much as the children enjoyed it, was very temporal in nature and had little to nothing to do with the celebration we know as Easter. During this second event much thought and prayerful contemplation was given to the most important event in the history of the world – the crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

During our visit to Washington State, I was extremely pleased to see that Daniel and his family followed this same pattern. In fact, Easter Sunday was used for worship, partaking of the Sacrament, participating in and listening to wonderful Easter music, and enjoying spiritual sermons and lessons on the magnificent gift we receive from God the Father and from our Savior, Jesus Christ through his sacrifice and his atonement for our sins. Far beyond our mortal ability to comprehend, this gift transcends all and is, in fact, a gift for all of mankind. No mention of candy and eggs and bunnies was made until family night on Monday when they had a fun-filled activity with little friends gathering plastic eggs filled with sugar (okay, candy).

I have studied, prayed and pondered for decades regarding how it was done. How God had the wisdom, the knowledge, and the love to bless us as an earthly family as he has. The answer is really quite simple. He is God. Yes, I know that there are hardships, illnesses, confusions, mental limitations, financial constraints, family angst, and even death, with which to contend in this life. In our pre-mortal life we knew all of this. We accepted on faith that we could come to earth, receive our mortal bodies united with our spirits, and live lives worthy of returning to our Heavenly Father. We knew that some would fail and that all would be blemished with the sins of this world. We knew that we would be tempted and succumb to many of the temptations placed carefully before us be a very real Satan. We knew that Satan’s legions would be busy pushing us to accept the delicious things that would discredit us and keep us from returning to his presence.

In my seventieth year on this rock, I still have no answers as to how it was done; however, I absolutely know that, as the hymn goes, “God loved us so he sent his Son; Christ, Jesus the atoning one; that through the sacrifice of his mortal life, Christ blessed all mankind with a remission of our sins and a sure reunification of spirit and body in a resurrected state ready to receive our eternal reward.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we do not display the “Cross” as a symbol of our Christianity; rather, we use the spire. On all LDS churches the spire is used to represent the resurrection of our Savior. We fully recognize the Cross as an integral part of the sacrifice of our Savior and appreciate those who use it as their temporal symbol for the magnificent, Godly acts of the sacrifice. We simply have been given, through revelation from God, the spire as our symbol of Christian identity. It represents an ever vigilant effort to reach upward toward eternal life; further, it reminds us of Christ’s ascension and return to his Father, our Father in Heaven. After Christ was crucified, he came forward from the tomb a resurrected God of body and spirit possessing body, parts and passions. After concluding his mission through many events on earth he ascended to heaven where he continues to guide and direct his earthly mission.

May you have the peace and calm that comes with an ever growing knowledge of our Heavenly Father and his wondrous plan of salvation.

Duane Jacobs, fond friend, grandfather, father, uncle, brother, cousin