Easter Eggs

Do you have happy memories of
coloring Easter eggs? Is this activity
still part of your Easter preparations?
Alas, it is no longer part of mine. But I
still have many blown out eggs which
Fran and I decorated in years gone by.
They are packed away somewhere.
Many have loops of thread and buttons
so that they could adorn a naked
branch brought in from the outdoors
in early spring. We had as many
Easter decorations as we did for
Christmas.

Throughout the year, we would
painstakingly prick a hole in both
ends of the eggs used for baking
or scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Blowing the insides out of the eggs
required tremendous lung power.
It was worth the effort. The eggs
accumulated until we had two dozen
or more to color just before Easter.
Of course, we had to do at least a
dozen hard boiled eggs as well.
One can never have too many eggs
when it is time to decorate them.

The containers which held the dye
had to be just right - deep enough
to cover the entire egg with color.
We had a set of Corning cups which
worked like a charm. Included in with
the dye, there were always those wax crayons
and paste on decals to add to the creative
fun. We had a special tray where
the eggs could dry. It was always
a highlight of Lent, coloring those
Easter eggs and anticipating the
jelly beans and chocolate which
would magically appear on Easter
morning - BEFORE Sunrise worship.

At one point in our Christian history
it was believed that eggs boiled on
Good Friday, if kept for one hundred
years, the yolk would be transformed
into a diamond. There are no known
diamonds actually created this way
but it is an interesting theory.

Supposedly, if Good Friday laid eggs
were cooked on Easter, they were
believed to promote the fertility of
a farmer's trees and crops. They
were also said to prevent sudden death.

If you found two yolks in an egg on
Easter, it meant you would soon be
rich. Since I've never found an egg
with two yolks on Easter - nor do I
know anyone who has, I cannot
vouch for or against the truth of this
traditional belief.

In the early years of the observance
of Lent - the forty days and nights
preceeding Easter minus Sundays
which are considered mini-Easters -
both eggs and meat were forbidden.
This may be where the whole Pancake
Tuesday tradition got its start. Folks
had to use up all the eggs in the house
before the sun set on Ash Wednesday.

The egg itself has always been a
symbol of Christ's Resurrection - his
rising from the dead on Easter morning,
an empty tomb proving that he was
not dead. Egg rolling contests are
based on the act of rolling away the stone
blocking the entrance to the tomb
on Easter morning to discover that it
was empty. The most famous Egg Rolling
Contest takes place on the White House lawn each year.
President Obama's daughters, Malie and Sasha
are probably excited about their first one.
Wonder if they get to color Easter eggs?

Some believe that eggs made their way
into our Christian Easter celebration by
way of Pagan customs. This may or
may not be true. There are many creation
stories in other cultures where the
entire world comes from a single egg.

But the egg has been part of the Passover
since the earliest times recorded in the
Bible. It is dipped in salt water to remind
us, as we eat it, of the tears cried by the
Hebrew people when they were slaves in
Egypt. In the Passover meal, as it is in
our current customs, the egg was a sign
of new life associated with spring - a season
when the world comes back to life after
the winter rest.

I cannot wait to see the crocuses pop their
purple and gold blossoms into the world.
This has been a long, hard winter. I will
be watching for the tulips and daffodils
to add their delightful colors to the world
once more. I'm already planning this
year's crop of sunflowers. I won't be
coloring Easter eggs, but the memories
of doing so always come to mind when
we begin that count down to Easter morning.
I pray that all the snow is gone before
our joyful Easter celebration begins!
From my lips to God's ears.