Happy Friday,

How are you all doing on this amazing Friday evening? What a beautiful day it’s been. Can you believe how amazing the weather has been this week? Hard to believe we are expecting tons of rain and in some areas folks will be getting a little bit of snow over the next couple of days.

As promised, today we’ll be chatting about the Easter Bunny and how he found his place within the entire holiday.

According to History.com, the Easter Bunny or Hare, “originally played the role of a judge, evaluating whether children were good or disobedient in behavior at the start of the season of Eastertide, similar to the “naughty or nice” list made by Santa Claus.”

Yesterday I shared with you that Easter was mentioned in the Bible in the book of Acts, chapter 12 verse 4, however, there is nowhere in the Bible that mentions the Easter Bunny, yet, the Easter Bunny has become a huge part of Easter.

The Easter Bunny is a huge part or prominent symbol of Christianity and is very important to the entire holiday. While the origins of the mythical bunny are unclear, we do know that rabbits are known to be “prolific procreators, which are ancient symbols of fertility and a new life.”

So, when did the Easter Bunny hop on the holiday’s scene? He first arrived in American in the 1700’s when the German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania. They brought their traditions of an egg-laying bunny who they called, Osterhase or Oschter Haws.

The tradition of the egg-laying bunny included children making nests so the bunny could lay it’s colored eggs. This tradition spread across the US and once that happened, the Easter Bunny not only delivered colored eggs, but he began to deliver chocolate and other types of candy and gifts.

Now that kids were getting more than just a few colored eggs, the nests they made began to fade and baskets in which they decorated took their place.

One thing that seems to be lost in the original Easter Bunny tradition is children leaving out carrots, just in case the bunny got hungry from hippity hopping around to al the children dropping off their Easter delights.

As far as traditions are concerned regarding Easter, there are no known links between the Easter Bunny and Jesus, other than, and this is a stretch, they are both tied to the holiday which is a celebration of a resurrection, and they both are symbols of new life.

When Jesus died and was resurrected, his death signified the washing away of our sins and the resurrection represented a new life. Not sure how the bunny fits into a resurrection, but we all know, bunnies seem to bring about new life and lots of it, quite often. This makes sense since the bunny is a symbol of fertility.

The Easter Bunny is a fun part of Easter and he brings so much joy to little ones. While he doesn’t really have any biblical ties to Jesus or the holiday’s meaning, it has become a tradition or symbol of Easter and one that brings so much joy to young ones.

Kids get up on Easter Sunday and can’t wait to find their baskets full of yummies and little ones certainly enjoy the tradition of hunting for the colored eggs their favorite bunny has hidden and left for them to find.

The Easter Bunny certainly has become an iconic part of the entire Easter holiday celebration, but wait, what about the candy, the Easter parades, the lamb and Easter Lilies?

Well, you’ll have to come back this weekend for those answers. I’ll make sure to look up some information to share with you.

I want to thank you for reading today’s blog and until next time, don’t forget, open your hearts, listen and evolve today++