Revealed – The Reasons Behind the Tradition of Hiding Easter Eggs
A friend of mine likes to use the phrase, "the Internet is undefeated" when it comes to the succinct definition of certain terms that are tossed around our language with little regard to their actual meaning. For example, the word "tradition", if you look that up in a dictionary it might be defined like this, "an inherited, established, or customary pattern of thought, action, or behavior "
Meanwhile, the Internet defines tradition as "peer pressure from dead people". Let's face it, that's what it really is. And because our dead ancestors are living rent-free between our ears many of us will be boiling, dying, and hiding brightly colored eggs around our homes this weekend.
I guess if you're going to celebrate a tradition, Easter would be a good time to do that. The season is filled with traditions and symbols. For example, why eggs for a rabbit to deliver? Well, the egg is symbolic of the tomb where Christ was buried. It also is a metaphor for rebirth and being born again.
The tradition of rolling Easter eggs has its genesis in the tomb of Christ as well. The rolling of the eggs is said to be symbolic of the "rolling of the stone" away from the entrance of the tomb where Christ's body was placed after his crucifixion.
Alright, we know why we use eggs and we know why we roll eggs, but why do we hide Easter eggs. If you say we hide Easter eggs because it's fun I will loudly and vehemently disagree with you. There is nothing fun about looking for lost items. Have you ever lost your car keys? Was that fun? Well, neither is finding eggs in a yard that may or may not be littered with animal waste.
There is a certain amount of symbolism in the hiding of eggs that once again can be traced back to the tomb where Christ's body was laid to rest. The "looking for eggs" is akin to the Roman soldiers "looking for Jesus" after the tomb was found to be empty on that first Easter morning.
A more plausible reason for Easter egg hunts seems to be the one that suggests the hunts were devised by parents. Those parents wanted to create an activity where their now sugar-fueled children could burn off some of the energy created by ingesting all of those Easter candies.
I know at my growing up that's why we had Easter egg hunts. I also found out later in life my Mom would tell us kids the incorrect number of eggs that had been hidden on purpose. She would say there were 24 eggs in the hunt but only hide 18 eggs. She did that so we'd burn off extra energy looking for things that weren't there. It's kind of how voters feel when they go looking for common sense in Washington DC or Baton Rouge.
Will your family be hiding eggs this Easter? Do you like to create your own unique eggs? If so, take this piece of advice.
And good luck in your search. If you use organic eggs, I hope you find them all by the time the sun goes down on Easter Sunday. If you don't you might have to use your nose to find that egg around Memorial Day. Trust me, it won't be pretty when you do.
Or, you could forgo all the stress and strain of an Easter egg hunt and just go chill at one of these fabulous places.
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