No matter which Sunday Easter falls on, I still celebrate the resurrection of my savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead. The importance is the event, NOT the date. Easter occurs on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal (spring) equinox. Easter and its related holidays, calculated to follow Passover, are based on the lunar calendar, very similar to the Hebrew Calendar. The range for Easter Sunday is March 22 – April 25. The Easter March 22nd date was last in 1818, and will be again in 2285; the Easter April 25 date was last in 1943 and will next be in 2038. If people don’t celebrate the real meaning of Easter, it has nothing to do with the date it falls on. It has more to do with upbringing, culture, and what we choose to believe and teach. The same for all the other “holidays”, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. More of us like picnics than parades; and many were never taught to decorate the graves of their own family members, much less veterans and those fallen in war. In fact, Memorial Day for those of us who do decorate graves, has become the standard day to take flowers to the gravesites of our own dearly departed. On May 5, 1868, John A. Logan, Union Civil War veteran, issued a proclamation for Decoration Day to be observed annually and nationwide. It was thereafter observed for the first time on Saturday, May 30, 1868. The date was chosen because it was NOT the anniversary of any particular battle, and because it was an optimal date for flowers to be in bloom. In 1882 the preferred name for the holiday was changed to Memorial Day, and the usage became more common after WW2. “On 6/28/1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday in May. It typically marks the start of summer vacation, while Labor Day marks its end.” The “convenient three-day weekend” just might make it more convenient (than mid-week) for employed persons and school-age kids to travel to wherever and “celebrate” Memorial Day in whatever fashion they choose (hopefully honoring our fallen soldiers). I took my third-grade grandson on Saturday, May 24, to help me decorate some graves by planting red, white and blue flowers on them, and some moss rose for my grandmother’s grave. My husband and I own a house that was built in 1860 by a Scotsman, Peter Gordon, whose four stepsons (last name of Tait) signed up for the Civil War in the foyer of this home. Two of those young men came back from war, and two were killed in battles in Tennessee; their remains were buried in the old Scots cemetery outside Victoria, Illinois, (or there are two grave-stones designated there for them). I have taken my grandson to their graves also, commemorating their lives and service to this country, by cleaning up their gravesites and bringing flags and flowers. I agree that if we don’t teach and inspire our younger generations to honor our traditions and beliefs, chances are that they won’t. And regardless of our best intentions, they may not anyway!
Jun 5 2014
Memorial Day not about the date!
No matter which Sunday Easter falls on, I still celebrate the resurrection of my savior, Jesus Christ, from the dead. The importance is the event, NOT the date. Easter occurs on the first Sunday following the first full moon that occurs on or after the day of the vernal (spring) equinox. Easter and its related holidays, calculated to follow Passover, are based on the lunar calendar, very similar to the Hebrew Calendar. The range for Easter Sunday is March 22 – April 25. The Easter March 22nd date was last in 1818, and will be again in 2285; the Easter April 25 date was last in 1943 and will next be in 2038. If people don’t celebrate the real meaning of Easter, it has nothing to do with the date it falls on. It has more to do with upbringing, culture, and what we choose to believe and teach. The same for all the other “holidays”, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. More of us like picnics than parades; and many were never taught to decorate the graves of their own family members, much less veterans and those fallen in war. In fact, Memorial Day for those of us who do decorate graves, has become the standard day to take flowers to the gravesites of our own dearly departed. On May 5, 1868, John A. Logan, Union Civil War veteran, issued a proclamation for Decoration Day to be observed annually and nationwide. It was thereafter observed for the first time on Saturday, May 30, 1868. The date was chosen because it was NOT the anniversary of any particular battle, and because it was an optimal date for flowers to be in bloom. In 1882 the preferred name for the holiday was changed to Memorial Day, and the usage became more common after WW2. “On 6/28/1968 Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved four holidays, including Memorial Day, from their traditional dates to a specified Monday in order to create a three-day weekend. The change moved Memorial Day from May 30th to the last Monday in May. It typically marks the start of summer vacation, while Labor Day marks its end.” The “convenient three-day weekend” just might make it more convenient (than mid-week) for employed persons and school-age kids to travel to wherever and “celebrate” Memorial Day in whatever fashion they choose (hopefully honoring our fallen soldiers). I took my third-grade grandson on Saturday, May 24, to help me decorate some graves by planting red, white and blue flowers on them, and some moss rose for my grandmother’s grave. My husband and I own a house that was built in 1860 by a Scotsman, Peter Gordon, whose four stepsons (last name of Tait) signed up for the Civil War in the foyer of this home. Two of those young men came back from war, and two were killed in battles in Tennessee; their remains were buried in the old Scots cemetery outside Victoria, Illinois, (or there are two grave-stones designated there for them). I have taken my grandson to their graves also, commemorating their lives and service to this country, by cleaning up their gravesites and bringing flags and flowers. I agree that if we don’t teach and inspire our younger generations to honor our traditions and beliefs, chances are that they won’t. And regardless of our best intentions, they may not anyway!
By spiritspeak • Guest Opinion 0