BY KLAUS DÖRING
TO DIE is to live!
We are always shocked when in the middle of our surroundings, somebody passes away. Our usual questions are: Why die so young? Why he or she? A natural reaction, indeed.
When old people pass away (by the way, what is OLD?), some would say: “It’s good for him/for her. He/she has already played his role in life and earth already!”
Sorry guys, I really don’t like to hear this. Who told you?
My uncle will be 93 soon. I just met him yesterday during our Easter party.
When wicked criminals die, people would say: “It’s good for him/her and us, they won’t be a menace to society any longer!”
Are you sure? Is this really your opinion? Sorry, not mine!
When long-suffering patients die, relatives and friends would say: “It’s better. He/she will not suffer anymore!” In many cases a really understandable reaction and opinion!
When Jesus finally gave up His spirit on the cross after three hours of bitter agony, the Pharisees said: “Finally, that impostor is gone! He deserved to die that kind of death!”
Let’s remember: After the waving of the tree branches by the Jewish crowd and hosannas of Palm Sunday, the arrest of Jesus betrayed by Judas in the Garden of Olives, the imprisonment and humiliation of Holy Thursday night, the carrying of the cross, crucifixion, and death at noon of Good Friday – Jesus Christ rose from the tomb on Easter Sunday – glorious and will never suffer and die again!
For Jesus, dying was not the end of everything. It was the beginning of a new life.
Resurrection means life. Symbolically we see the Easter Resurrection of our Lord depicted in various ways, which always point to life after death. Especially in parts of the world where deep winter lets all plants and trees “sleep” for a couple of months, people enjoy the spirit of the new shoots that come out of a big trunk of a tree.
Eggs were usually symbols used in springtime long before Christianity came into existence. The egg symbolizes life, which is causing it to grow. Since Easter usually occurs at spring time (March or April), which is already summer in the Philippines. This egg symbol was still in use among the pagans of early times when Christians were celebrating Easter.
Many cultures believe eggs to be the source of new life from inanimate matter, and even that the world emerged from an egg.
In Ancient Egypt, an egg was revered as the origin of the world.
One version of the creation myth mentions the cosmic egg hatching the “bird of light”.
The Chinese already gave painted eggs as gifts at the beginning of spring some 5,000 years ago.
In Ancient Greece and Rome, to celebrate the equinox in March (the beginning of the year), it was customary to hang up colorful eggs and give them as gifts. In this example, eggs represented new beginnings.
With a similar connotation, from the 4th century, eggs also served as funeral offerings, placed in Roman-Germanic tombs to wish the deceased to be resurrected.
Christianity adopted eggs as a symbol of fertility, resurrection, and eternal life. From the outside, eggs appear stone cold, yet inside they nurture young life. Just as a grave keeps life locked in, eggs stood for the tomb in Jerusalem, from which Christ rose from death “like a bird hatching from an egg”.
Consequently, eggs are an inherent part of Christian Easter celebrations. In one of Jesus’ parables, he calls the egg a good gift, hence eggs were regarded as “virtuous food”.
In Spain and Italy, eggs are still prominent in baptismal chapels, on altars of Mary, or at the feet of Jesus on the cross.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, to commemorate Christ’s resurrection, golden eggs or ostrich eggs are hung on the “icon wall”.
As Oprah Winfrey said: “People think that spirituality is only about church or religion. It’s also about you and about life!”
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