Easter is an uneven holiday. In Britain it leads to days off work. In the US, which prides itself on being religious, it’s business as usual. Nobody closes for any days surrounding the holiest day of the Christian year. That irony has always struck me about this season. Of course, going to college there were breaks in the spring, and at a Christian school, special observances for sacred times. In seminary it goes without saying. In my case, working on a doctorate in the UK (an activity with few true breaks), we experienced the British sense of holidays surrounding Easter. At Nashotah House you simply couldn’t miss it. In fact, the Triduum was a contest of endurance with late night services and hours and hours in chapel. Once I was forced into secular life, the shift was blinding.
Capitalism rolls right over Easter without even slowing down. Who brakes for a Sunday holiday? I am a believer in significant days. I write about holiday horror, and holidays in general, because I’m certain of their importance. The relentless pursuit of gain that is the American way is wearying. Most everyone I know who isn’t retired is just plain tired. Tired all the time. We’re given few pauses and fed many worries. So much so that resurrection from the dead can feel like something scary indeed. Will work in the afterlife be as unrelenting as it is in this one? All of this becomes especially evident to me on years like this one where Easter creeps up on me. Not a fixed day in the calendar, sometimes you don’t even look up until you’re practically on top of it.
I remember in high school spending practically all day on Good Friday in church. When working at Ritz Camera (after seminary, trying to stay ahead of student loan payments), managers looked at you funny if you asked for it off. You see, I need spiritual time to recover from the onslaught of work. Easter, however, is just another Sunday. Watched on Zoom, with maybe special music. If you’re able to be there in person there may be lilies with their distinctive Pascal scent. Then the next day it’s back to work as usual. Thinking about Easter always make me think about hearts being where the treasure is located. When we take treasure too literally, it leads to too much work. My mind, I fear, is that of a professor, with built in spring break. And semester breaks. Not exactly holidays, but unstructured time to catch up on work. Holy days.
