Why does Easter matter?
I'm not religious and yet I find that this festival of re-birth matters to me
Easter Morning
A first.
I have just risen at dawn to welcome the sun on Easter Sunday. I was with some Christians for whom the rising of the sun is indicative of the rising of the son, Jesus, after his crucifixion. I have seen the sunrise many times before, I am an early bird, but there is something precious about being with a group of people who are also prepared to get up at 0530 to stand and stare as the red sliver turns into a golden ball of light, pinking the rolling hills and shimmering the sea.
It makes me smile that Easter, this festival of such religious significance is the first Sunday following the full moon after the March Equinox. It pleases me, that unlike Christmas which is fixed by our man-made calendars, Easter flows with the moons which seems so appropriate for this celebration of spring.
As I type now, back in the warm, blue bells as indigo-ing the grass and blossom pinking the trees. The swallows are swooping low and the rabbits are peeping from the undergrowth. Life is abundant and bursting, fecund and burgeoning.
Were it true for all the world.
The New Dawn
We here are so abundant; I am warm, fed, safe and healthy. It seems to me that if this festival is about anything, it is about new beginnings, of new dawns, of the return of the light. For all.
And I see glimpses of it. I feel excited by the Extinction Rebellion and the School Strikes for Climate Change. I feel the energy rising as people, ordinary people stand up and say ‘Stop. Pay attention. This matters more than anything’. For it does. We maybe sitting pretty in our country so far largely unaffected by global warming, but my grandchildren will be affected by the mass migrations, the shortages, the extremes of weather and poverty.
I feel excited by the chaos surrounding Brexit, it is showing how broken this system is, how ineffective, how frankly ridiculous all the posturing and ego is. Imagine groups of surgeons behaving this way before surgery, or teachers before a lesson, or air-traffic controllers before take-off. Carnage.
Things have to break down or die before they can be re-born.
Rebirth
And we are the midwives and doulas of each new day. Every one of us has something new to birth, something rising within us which needs to be heard and we can help each other by connecting and supporting.
Whether we are leaders pushing for new, more ethical ways of working, or parents supporting our kids’ climate change action, or neighbours joining in community projects, or friends supporting each other with new ventures, with new relationships, or with leaving jobs and partners who no longer fit, we are all agents of change.
We are all lit by the same sun and watered by the same rain as the trees and the hills and the rivers. We can not help but change and grow, and when we do this with intention and attention then we really can be part of birthing something more sustainable and connecting for families all over the world.
How can we be the change we want to see in the world?
It can sometimes feel overwhelming, what can little old me do in the face of all that needs to change?
The answer is that we start right where we are. In our work in our relationships, in our homes and gardens, in how we speak and think, in how we spend and consume. Our money has power, our words have impact, our actions ripple out into the world. If we each lived by age old calls to ‘Do no harm’ and ‘Treat other people as we would like to be treated ourselves’, our lives would be different and those changes would ripple outward and onwards.
Who and what do our spending habits harm? Our words harm? Our actions harm? Our inaction harm? Now and in the future for the generations who follow behind? What are the small changes we can all make in our lives which would lead us to live with more integrity and compassion, with more empathy and connection, with more transparency and honesty?
To me, if Easter stands for anything, it is re-birth, of resurrection of something new out of the death of the old, of the phoenix rising from the ashes, of base metal being turned to gold.
What is it you need to let go of, let die, in order to let the new sun rise in our chaotic and beautiful world?
Julie
x
P.S. If you’d like some inspiration to help you take time for yourself follow the link to get a free download of the opening chapters of my book Love Being Me.
Julie Leoni
Coach, author, podcaster, facilitator, Yoga and psychology teacher, learner
I have over 30 years of experience and qualification in various therapeutic and meditation/mindfulness based approaches. I work with change. Some changes we chose, others happen to us. Sometimes we know we want to change but don't know how. Sometimes we don't want to change but external events or people are forcing us to change. The menopause, children leaving home, the end of a relationship or job, becoming a parent, coming out, bereavement are just some of the personal changes I support people with. I also work with people who want to make changes to their life and wider world in response to social issues such as Covid, the climate crisis and racial, sexual and gender inequalities. Times are changing whether we want them to or not and we need to be nimble, agile, curious and open in order to part of the new story emerging. Work with me to get clear on what matters to you, what makes your heart sing and what kind of future you want for yourself and those you love. It is possible to live differently, get in touch to explore how.
