Church issues

 

Hayter article for March 31, 2024

 

“Easter with the Hayter family as told by Mark”

Do you know what’s weird about this particular Easter? This year Easter falls on March 31st, and won’t do it again until 2086. Your grandchildren may witness it, but you likely won’t. On the bright side, none of your grandchildren will be expecting you to hide Easter eggs for them.  

Oh, and get this. Next Easter falls on April 20th. Who on earth came up with such a scheme? Easter is one of those holidays that is determined by the full moon. Jesus was nailed to a cross on the day before the Jewish Passover and rose from the grave on the day after. The Catholic Church instituted the celebration of Easter based on the time of the Jewish Passover. 

Considering the number of calendars we’ve had since the death of Jesus and the uncertainty of the actual year he was crucified, it is impossible to determine the date of the first Easter. … unless artificial intelligence can figure it out. I would explain more of this, but then I’d have to continue with my research, and I’m sick of doing that.  

Many of you may have little to no concern about the Christian faith. Were I born to a different family or in a different country, there is no telling what my faith would be today… if anything. That’s pretty much the way of religion. Generally our religious faith is determined by our parents and their culture.

I’ve mentioned before how I was practically born in a church building. The first Sunday after Mom left the hospital after birthing me, she dragged the family to church. I used the “dragged” verb to demonstrate how much the Hayter kids dreaded church. Our family went to a church of Christ which, back then, was an institution that believed we were the only ones who had a chance to go to heaven. And, we weren’t so sure we were going either.  

One example of our beliefs involves Easter. It was not recognized as a God-given celebration. It was okay to dye eggs and hide them, but there would be NO mention of Jesus during the occasion. If God wanted us to celebrate Easter, He would’ve said something about it. 

And Christmas? Oh, my word. You could get a Christmas tree, exchange gifts, and lie to your kids about Santa, but it was a sin to bring Jesus into the equation. No way on God’s green earth was Jesus born in the winter. 

We couldn’t drink or dance, and women couldn’t wear pants. There were too many other sins to keep up with. Some of the rules seemed to come out of the blue. It sounds horrible, but some other religions throughout the world pack even more of a wallop.  

Fortunately, the church we now attend stresses love more than fear. It’s difficult to love a god who would just as soon send you to hell as look at you. I’m sure that wasn’t the intended message, but the sermons back then seemed geared toward that very thing. I was of a mind that the preacher was the only one going to heaven. And, he was quite proud of that. 

When I was a kid it was okay to celebrate Easter in elementary school. I remember that my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, had us all follow her down the sidewalk to somebody’s house so we could hide eggs. Mom didn’t have an Easter basket for me, so she made one out of a cylindrical oatmeal box. I don’t know if you’re aware, but oatmeal boxes don’t have handles, so Mom somehow affixed a shoestring to the top of the box. It broke on our walk back to school.

It’s cruel how the embarrassing moments in our lives tend to stay with us longer than the happy ones. While I have no desire to go back to the time of my youth, knowing what I do now, I think I could really improve on Mark. 

In the real world, children generally learn from things they witness. Over the years, my church experiences have changed so much for the better. As for the old church we attended, it’s long gone. The preachers and members back then stressed the fear of God and seldom mentioned His love. When His love was mentioned it included so many caveats. God loves you up to the moment you sin. At that point, you better hope you don’t die, because you’ll be going to hell in a basket. 

 The young people who attend such churches, generally leave as soon as they leave home. The congregations end up with old people and a few families with youngsters. The church Kay and I attend today has a congregation that is equally split among children, young adults, adults, and old people like Kay and me. Easter will be celebrated this Sunday. There will be an early service followed by an egg hunt and some catered food. Afterward, there will be another service attended mostly by old people and adults who have no children. That’s just a guess. Kay and I will be there. 

I’m proud of you for sticking with me through this discourse. It had a little religion, a lot of foolishness, and a considerable amount of family history. By the way, the first outing Kay ever had with the Hayter family was on Easter. We went to Milby Park, hid Easter eggs for the kiddos, and played softball. Kay didn’t enjoy softball. In fact, she was never excited about any of our outdoor family gatherings. That fact is registered somewhere in the Hayter Family history. She has shown no concern about that. 

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