Fridays are for Newpaper Articles

The following may not seem like much of an “Easter” article.  But, I ask you to remember that my readership with the Canyon Lake (TX) Times-Guardian is hardly a uniformly Christian audience.  I’m trying to get them to think and, in the process, consider Christ. 

For your information, the T-G thinks that it has about 75-80% the same readership every week.  Thus, while I try to make each installment complete in itself, I also have the opportunity for a “cumulative” impact of a sort.

                            “Under the Veneer” 

            When I lived at Canyon Lake the first time, from the late 1970s through the early 1980s, we were just acquiring the furnishing for our home.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t afford to get expensive new furniture and, although my wife had a taste for antiques, we couldn’t afford them either.  So, were there any options left?

            Yes, we could have gotten cheap furniture, which, of course, looks cheap and falls apart quickly.  We did not want to go that route.  That left only one alternative: buy old furniture, which has more staying power, then try to make it look as good as possible.

            Frankly, I never did get very good at refinishing the older furniture we purchased from the back rooms of a number of antique dealers here at the Lake or in New Braunfels.  However, I did acquire a certain amount of skill in stripping off the original veneer and finding out what we were dealing with under the exterior.

            Once or twice, I admit that I was less than excited about having purchased a particular piece of furniture when I got under the veneer.  Usually, that was when I had gotten what had been presented to me as a “heck of a deal,” but definitely was not, given the kind and condition of the wood I found underneath.

            Most of the time, however, the furniture itself was still solid and quite durable, in spite of age and a ratty exterior appearance, which had faded or been significantly marred over the years.  That made the effort of the purchase and the refinishing well worth it.

            This week, within a span of six days, our culture is celebrating two holidays—St. Patrick’s Day and Easter—that also suffer seriously from problems with their “veneer.”  They are very old holidays and, thus, have had plenty of time for their original appearances to give way to refinishing which, tragically, has strongly obscured their original meaning.

            I am going to take the remainder of this article to strip away the secularizing veneer so that you, the reader, can see the beautiful original underneath.  And, I hope that you pay attention carefully.  The same secular veneer has been applied to Christmas and Thanksgiving, both of which our culture has turned into occasions which have come to be, in many cases, almost diametrically opposed to their original meaning.

            But, those are articles for other seasons of the year.  In 2008, though, St. Patrick’s Day and Easter fall very close together.  So, it makes very good sense to look beneath the surface appearance on both of them together.

            What is the cultural understanding today of “St. Pattie’s?”  It’s become a celebration of being Irish, with emphasis on wearing green, displaying shamrocks and drinking Irish beverages.

            What was the original meaning?  St. Patrick was a Christian missionary to Ireland, who brought the gospel to a very pagan land at that time.  He had nothing to do with the legendary snakes and his life and ministry certainly were not about Irishness, but Christianity, and had nothing to do with wearing green or drinking Irish alcoholic beverages.  There is the bare possibility that he used the shamrock as an illustration of the Trinity, but even that is unlikely.

            What is the cultural understanding of Easter?  Go through the average retail store and you see very clearly.  Easter egg hunts, of course, and family gatherings are quite prominent, given that kids are often off from school for a brief holiday.

            What was the original meaning?  Neither of the above, and even the name Easter and the eggs idea both come from pagan sources.  No, the reality beneath the cultural veneer with Easter is the day of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. 

            Are you willing to look beyond the short-sighted secular veneer and see the beautiful original realities of St. Patrick’s Day and Easter?  If you choose to do so, “the real thing” can change not only your way of thinking, but your whole life.

Coming Monday: “When Will Certain Spiritual Gifts Cease?”