The Rise of the Easter Bunny

I don't really get the whole Easter Bunny thing. It's not like Father Christmas, who was around when I was little. Or even the Tooth Fairy who is, of course, real because she wrote me little letters to say thank you for my teeth.

The Easter Bunny seems to have appeared out of nowhere and now suddenly, Easter is about a rabbit. I don't even know what the rabbit is supposed to do. I told all my children at work to go to bed nice and early so the Easter Bunny would come, and then wondered if I'd got a bit mixed up with Father Christmas. The rabbit seems to have swum across the ocean from it's American rabbit's burrow and skipped it's merry little way into our celebrations.

I don't mind the eggs. Of course, I love chocolate so that always helps. But aren't eggs from birds, not rabbits? Why would a rabbit hide an egg? And eggs, to me, symbolise the new life that has been given to us in Jesus. So, Easter eggs make sense. It's the rabbit that doesn't quite seem to fit.

It's not that I'm particularly against it, I just don't understand where it has come from and how on earth it fits with the Easter story.

And the Easter story is the world's greatest love story. A rescue of epic proportions. Judged as guilty, we take our place in front of the firing squad ready to face our death sentence only to be pushed aside at the last minute by the Judge himself. And BANG! The judge goes down. A judge who loves us so very much that he wants to rescue us from our inescapable punishment. He wants to know us, to give us new life and a certain hope. He wants us to live with the power that his resurrection showed. He wants to give us more than we could possibly imagine. He wants to give us a life that is fuller and more exciting than we could ever dream. He wants to walk with us through the tough times and give us freedom from our pasts. He wants to show us miracles. He wants to use us to bring justice in the world. He wants us to adventure with him.

Surely that is far more of a thrilling story than a rabbit who hides eggs. But maybe that's just me.