March 25- Can't we just have an Easter lesson?

[crossmyheart]

I have not attended all 3 hours since last Mother's day. Which was pretty painful. I may live outside the Morridor, but I live in a red state and my ward is pretty fundamental.

My husband really wants to attend all three this weekend for Easter. I just looked up the lesson for RS- it is "Jesus Christ is our example for keeping the Sabbath Holy" I don't know if I can do it.

[Dravin]

My husband really wants to attend all three this weekend for Easter. I just looked up the lesson for RS- it is "Jesus Christ is our example for keeping the Sabbath Holy" I don't know if I can do it.

The very same Jesus Christ that broke Pharisaical rules concerning appropriate Sabbath observance and supposedly declared, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath"? That Jesus? If one was of a pot stirring nature one could have some fun there.

[Corsair]

In my ward the choir is presenting some very appropriate Easter songs. I hope that the speakers are appropriate also. I have some faith that the third hour lesson in Priest's Quorum (I am in a YM Presidency) will be about Easter. But Sunday School will be definitely be about Joseph in Egypt and rescuing his family from famine.

[oliver_denom]

I got fussed at for saying that Mormonism doesn't celebrate Easter, and this is why. It's not that Mormons don't hide eggs, eat chocolate, and buy Easter outfits, it's that there's no specific religious rite that's associated with the holy day. Mormons observe Easter in the same way they observe Pioneer Day or the 4th of July. They decorate and observe some of the external traditions, but those all come from the culture where the church happens to be, not the church itself.

[crossmyheart]

My husband really wants to attend all three this weekend for Easter. I just looked up the lesson for RS- it is "Jesus Christ is our example for keeping the Sabbath Holy" I don't know if I can do it.

The very same Jesus Christ that broke Pharisaical rules concerning appropriate Sabbath observance and supposedly declared, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath"? That Jesus? If one was of a pot stirring nature one could have some fun there.

I like where you are going with this. Time to break out my old mission scriptures and take them with me so I can keep up.

[crossmyheart]

I got fussed at for saying that Mormonism doesn't celebrate Easter, and this is why. It's not that Mormons don't hide eggs, eat chocolate, and buy Easter outfits, it's that there's no specific religious rite that's associated with the holy day. Mormons observe Easter in the same way they observe Pioneer Day or the 4th of July. They decorate and observe some of the external traditions, but those all come from the culture where the church happens to be, not the church itself.

I really do like to celebrate Lent. Giving something up for a set amount of time has its benefits.

I attended a ward once that held a Saturday night event that took you through the stages of the cross. It was truly a spiritual event. That was definitely a one time thing though.

[Mad Jax]

I honestly wished the church wouldn't observe religious holidays. I attended church to have three hours escape from the rest of the world, I didn't attend so I could have the same pseudo-religious clap trap echoed into my ears.

To be fair, Easter was more than tolerable to me. In defense of the way Easter is observed in the US (and I think Canada) it really is at least a religious holiday with limits to its exposure. In contrast to Christmas, the saturation infected every moment of existence, some years it began months before the holiday, and I couldn't even escape it at church. In fact, at church it was even worse than the mundane commercial treatment. It really went a long way toward souring me on the holiday.

So, I think the church not having an Easter lesson is in line with my general attitude. However, I would be fine with an Easter lesson because it is at least genuinely a holiday about a key event in all Christian belief. It just isn't something I ever thought was necessary.

[alas]

The best Easter we ever had at a church function was a Sedar (sp?) supper. That was the "last Supper" that Jesus celebrated with his disciples, you know, the Jewish holiday. We had a convert in our ward who was raised quite orthodox and so we had the whole thing, with the unleavened bread and bitter herbs and lamb and we went through the whole ceremony that is set up as a teaching moment. A child is assigned to ask questions about for example, why we eat the bitter herbs, and the family patriarch answers the questions. It is all scripted and formal. Never learned that much in any other church setting ever.

[MerrieMiss]

I just sat through our Easter Sacrament meeting: “How to get the most out of general conference,” complete with the tip to get a good nights sleep the night before so we don’t take naps during conference, correct notetaking procedures, the advice to watch all sessions of conference and many other wonderful ideas.

I then went to Sunday school, where the opening statement was this question: “have you ever invested a great deal of emotional capital in something you found out wasn’t true ?” That was enough for me, for RS I’m hanging out in the car .

[crossmyheart]

Sacrament was a husband and wife giving their usual All About Us talks. Very little talk of Christ at all. Tucked between them was a ward choir song that was at least Easter related. However none of the other hymns were ones that I would consider for Easter which was honestly disappointing for me.

Sunday school was the lesson on Joseph being sold into Egypt and Potiphar's wife. I was waiting for someone to bring up the current situation with the MTC president and compare the victim to Potiphar's wife. It felt like they were dancing around the subject but never exactly mentioned it.

I gave Relief Society a go but couldn't make it all the way through. Too much magical thinking about the Holiness of the Sabbath. I considered speaking up but I really have no social collateral in this Ward and anything that I say would just be the ravings of some inactive woman. Instead I voted with my feet and got up and left.

[IT_Veteran]

I then went to Sunday school, where the opening statement was this question: “have you ever invested a great deal of emotional capital in something you found out wasn’t true ?” That was enough for me, for RS I’m hanging out in the car .

I’m impressed a Sunday school teacher was willing to go there.

[Corsair]

Next Sunday, all across Christendom, all followers of Jesus Christ will partake of the Lord's Supper. Except the Mormons, unfortunately. After the usual topics of sacrament meeting and general conference, the tone deaf treatment of the high holy day of Christianity is simply business as usual in LDS culture.

[slavereeno]

I just sat through our Easter Sacrament meeting: “How to get the most out of general conference,” complete with the tip to get a good nights sleep the night before so we don’t take naps during conference, correct notetaking procedures, the advice to watch all sessions of conference and many other wonderful ideas.

This is exactly what we got in SM

[MerrieMiss]

I then went to Sunday school, where the opening statement was this question: “have you ever invested a great deal of emotional capital in something you found out wasn’t true ?” That was enough for me, for RS I’m hanging out in the car .

I’m impressed a Sunday school teacher was willing to go there.

Meh, it wasn't what you think. Somehow he tied it in to Esau losing his birthright or something like that. I can't really remember anymore because I tuned out as much as I could.

[IT_Veteran]

No, I didn’t mean to imply that was where he wanted the lesson to go, just that I’m surprised he’d be willing to ask the question. It’s pretty loaded.