The Dress, the Day, the Season

I love Easter. I love all that the spring season represents (rebirth, renewal, awakening), as well as the surrounding beauty which usually accompanies the time of year. I love to commemorate the resurrection of our Lord with scripture and meditation, and most of all - MUSIC! Some of my favorite church hymns are Easter anthems! So when I am deprived of the chance to sing those praises on the one day a year to which it applies, I am left with disappointment.

This year's Easter coincided with General Conference. It happens every so often. I have to admit, that I'm enjoying it less and less when it does, however. Last week in our primary meeting, one of the primary presidency stood before the children and asked, "Who can tell me what is next week?" Hands shot up. "General Conference," chimed one little voice. "That's right!!" responded said presidency leader. Much to my dismay, that's ALL she was looking to hear! I wanted to pipe in from behind the piano keyboard, "...and EASTER!!" but I really felt it wasn't my place. She was already sticking her visuals of the Quorum of the Twelve to the chalkboard - clearly on a mission to play another round of "Name That Apostle". No Easter songs were sung in anticipation of the coming holiday. No mention was made of the miracle and profoundity of the resurrection. All of the chit-chat was about General Conference.

A Facebook friend posted a very relevant and thought-provoking article yesterday: BYU study: Disconnect between Mormons and Easter. To quote: "Gordon B. Hinckley declare(d) in clarion tones that Easter celebrates the most important event in all of human history, but there's this disconnect with the LDS observance of it."
I ate up the article.
YES! YES! I have felt this EXACT WAY for years! Why don't we do more? How many times have I attended church on Easter (or even Christmas) and ne'er a word is mentioned in the Sunday School lesson, or even Relief Society? Furthermore, why aren't the correlation and lesson materials even ORGANIZED to facilitate a lesson "for the season" twice a year? On occasion, a sister of similar thought in Relief Society will present a Christmas or Easter lesson, in lieu of the "next chapter" - but how often is there NO effort made? Primary children's choirs should be up on the stand singing selections which reflect the celebrations! Congregational hymns should allow our members to rejoice in song! I would really love to see a movement - even WITHOUT directive from SLC - to encompass these things into our worship! Do we *have* to be told to do this? Isn't our own love and gratitude for the Saviour and His sacrifice for us enough to turn our minds singularly to Him on these days? MUST we slog through another lesson about who-knows-what, when we can focus our praise and attention to these events ALONE?

*stepping down from my soapbox*


Yesterday was a gorgeous day. The sun was bright, and a nice breeze gifted us with a beautiful temperature. I LOVE MY KIDS! As seen in the pics, J-bird's Easter dress even turned out well, matching the sunniness of the morning perfectly! Because it was Easter Sunday, we decided to go to our meeting house to watch the morning broadcast of conference, if just to emphasize the importance of going to church on Easter Sunday to worship Him. Even if it's just to sit in the dark and look up at a screen, it was better than slogging on the couch, watching it on our computer. Granted, there were talks about Christ and some mention of Easter - but I really felt the disconnect! I am looking forward to next year, when Easter Sunday is at the end of April. I truly hope that the Deseret News article will get some people thinking and DOING!