My Favorite Holiday

Easter season has almost come to a close.  So I thought that I would delve on my favorite holiday.  You are probably thinking at this point that Easter is my favorite holiday.  In a way it is part of my favorite holiday.  My favorite holiday is actually the non-commercialized holiday of Maundy Thursday.  It is one of those religious holidays that are not celebrated with much fanfare, but to me it is amazing and unique.

Trillium reminds me of the Trinity- God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit

What is Maundy Thursday?  It is the day that commemorates the Last Supper.  Even though Jesus knew what lay ahead of him, He took the time to commune with His disciples.  He showed them how much He and his Father loved them and loved us.  As an expression of that love, He taught the disciples what we now call communion.  Isn’t God amazing!

One of my favorite Maundy Thursday memories was from my old country church.  It was the last Maundy Thursday service before the church closed, so it would fell on the evening of April 13, 2006.  Instead of having the service in the sanctuary, it was held in the basement (which was small by most church standards).  There were four tables set-up in a “u” shape.  We ate by candlelight and we were served several courses of foods that may have been typical during the Passover.  I remember that we ate bitter herbs, unleavened bread, and grape juice.  I think there may have been a few other items, but they escape me at this point.  We ate a solemn meal with each course being presented one at a time with the meaning of what that course represented.  At the end our pastor led us through Holy Communion and we partook of the bread and cup.  To me experiencing what the Last Supper may have been like gave me a new perspective on the sacrifice of Jesus, God’s amazing love, and humanized the disciples. 

One day I hope for pumpkin and princess to experience this amazing holiday for themselves.  It will be several years down the road, but I look forward to the time they can stay up to experience a Maundy Thursday service.  Until then we will celebrate the true meaning of Easter as well as tradition of the Easter Bunny.

Pumpkin is looking forward to the Easter Bunny’s arrival and princess on the other hand has not quite caught on yet.  Pumpkin cleaned his room this morning, since the Easter Bunny only leaves treats for children with clean rooms.  Then I allowed him first choice of the two handmade Easter baskets that I made for my little ones.  Pumpkin choose the lighter of the two baskets, so princess will get the darker basket.  We will place pumpkin and princess’s Easter baskets on a table in our sun room this evening and then all go to bed in hopes that the elusive Easter Bunny will drop in and leave a few treats while we sleep.

God is Great!  My wish for all who read this post is a Happy & Safe Easter Weekend!